The Time of Our Lives
by CMarie1227
Summary: Sequel to 'More Than a Feeling' - Brenda leaves for London after her night with Dylan.
1. Chapter 1

Part 2 – 'The Time of Our Lives' – sequel to 'More Than a Feeling'

_Chapter 1 - Brenda leaves for London_

'Okay, Mom. I think that's the last of it,' Brenda says, as she puts the bag she was carrying on the floor in the foyer of the Walsh house.

'Oh, honey. I am going to miss you so much. I want you to have the best time possible while you are there and learn as much as you possibly can, and then come back to us,' Cindy says as she puts her hand on her daughter's shoulder.

'I will Mom. I promise.'

The door to Casa Walsh opens and Brandon walks in hand-in-hand with Kelly.

'Well, Bren, it looks like you're leaving me again to go gallivanting around Europe,' Brandon says.

'Brandon, come on, I will not be gallivanting. This is a very strict, hard, intensive, and emotionally draining 6-week training program. There are professional actors that still go through this training because it is the best. It's going to be anything but gallivanting,' she says.

'Yeah, yeah, fine. You're still going to be in another country enjoying your freedom.'

'Brenda, I am so happy for you that Roy could get you into this program. I heard that it's really hard to get in,' Kelly says to her.

'Yeah, me too,' Brenda laughs, 'This is my chance to show him and everyone else that I am really serious about this and I can't wait to get down and learn everything.'

Jim comes down the stairs with his car keys in hand.

'Okay, let's get going or you are going to miss your plane and you'll be stuck putting on plays for us in the living room,' Jim laughs.

'Right, okay, Dad. Well, bye!' Brenda says as she hugs Brandon and Kelly. She walks over to where her mother is standing and hugs her. 'Don't worry Mom, I'll be back before you know it. And just for good measure,' she whispers, 'I think the box should go back in the garage until I get back. I'm not ready to open it yet.'

Jim and Brenda wave as they make their way out to the car. They drive to the airport in silence. Jim pulls up in front of the arrival doors and gets out of the car to remove Brenda's bags from the trunk.

'Brenda, I just want to tell you that I am so proud of you. Look how much you have grown up from just a year ago. I love you so much. Shine like a star in London and come back to us a seasoned veteran of the stage,' Jim says to her.

'I will, Dad,' Brenda smiles and gives her Dad a hug.

She grabs her bags and begins to make her way through the airport to check in. She stands in line, checks her bag, and begins to make her way over to the security area. She looks in her carry on bag to make sure that she has her ticket, her boarding pass, and her passport. As she zips her bag up and gets ready to make her way into the security line, she hears a voice behind her.

'Didn't you forget something?'

She turns around with a smile on her face and stares at Dylan. 'No, I did not forget anything. I was just about to call you to find out where you were.'

He walks to her and takes her in his arms. He kisses her gently and pulls away slowly trying to keep contact with her.

'Well, it looks like you are all ready to go, then,' Dylan says.

'Yes, I am,' she smiles up at him.

'So, you're going to let me know when I can come out and see you, right?' Dylan asks.

Brenda laughs and says, 'Yes, as soon as I know what the schedule for the course is, I will let you know when it will be over.'

He smiles and pushes her slightly toward the security line. 'You better go or you are going to miss your flight.'

She hugs him tightly, gives him a quick kiss, and gets in the line. He watches her for a few seconds, and then turns to leave the airport.

Dylan pulls up in front of his house and marvels at the fact that he doesn't really remember the drive from the airport. He was thinking about Brenda and how excited he was that she loved the relationship roller coaster he had prepared for her last night. After they left the BelAge Hotel, he took her back to his house. He had ordered food from one of the fanciest restaurants in town and had someone prepare the dining room table with linens and candles and flowers just for Brenda.

_Flashback to the night before_

'_Oh, Dylan, this is beautiful,' she said as he led her from the door to the dining room table._

'_I was hoping you would like it and I figured after all of that running around I made you do, that you are probably starving,' he said as he looked at her. He thought that he could almost hear her stomach growl, but he wasn't sure._

_They ate in almost silence. After dinner they shared the pie from the Peach Pit that Brenda had picked up while she was there. They moved to the couch after the meal and he grabbed her hands in his._

'_Brenda, I want to show you that I really have thought about all of this all the way through this time.'_

'_Dylan, from what I have seen tonight, I know that you have. Please understand that I want this to work and be a fantastic relationship filled with love and friendship. We need to make sure that our goals are the same this time and not some fantasy idea,' she pleads._

'_I agree,' he says to her. 'Tell me what you are thinking.'_

'_Well, I'm leaving tomorrow to go to London for a little over a month. This is the time where we find out how committed to this friendship we both really are. If we really want this to work, we need to be honest with each other. If something comes along and there's an opportunity to grab it, I don't want you to feel as though I will be let down if you do it.'_

'_Okay. I know that you are over there to learn and that the course you are taking is really important to you, but I would like to spend some time with you this summer. Somewhere that's not Beverly Hills, you know? I think what we really need is a break from all of this and some time to figure out if we are mature enough to handle anything that may come at us,' Dylan says._

'_Well, it's a 6-week course. Maybe I can work something out to stay there another week and you could come then. But, Dylan, things may change in 6 weeks, and I think we both need to be prepared for plans to change at a moment's notice. I don't want to jump headfirst into the pool this time. I think it's time we just dabbled our feet in and see what we can come up with,' Brenda says. She looks up at him to try to gauge his reaction to what she just said._

'_You know, I think that is a great idea,' Dylan smiles at her._

Present Day

Dylan sits at the table and realizes that he isn't entirely comfortable with the decision that they made last night, but figures that if he wants to make sure that Brenda is always in his life in some way or another that he'll have to give it a try.

He pulls out a piece of paper and begins writing about the events that had taken place the previous night in hopes of getting some clarity.

_Heathrow Airport_

Brenda arrives in London and picks up her bag at the baggage claim. She walks out from the terminal area and looks for someone from RADA that was supposed to pick her up. She spots tall handsome man, who looks like he's about her age, with a sign that has her name on it. She walks up to him and introduces herself.

'Brenda, it's nice to meet you. I'm Paul. Do you have everything?' he says.

'Hi Paul, it's nice to meet you too. I believe that I do have everything and am ready to go.'

Paul leads her through the airport to the parking area where he puts her bags in the trunk. They get in the car and drive into the city.

'Have you ever been to London before this?' he asks.

'Um, no, but I did spend a summer in Paris in an immersion program two years ago.'

'Oh, that's great. Did you like Paris?'

Brenda thinks back to her experience with Donna in Paris. 'Yeah, I loved it,' she smiles.

'Well, I think that you are going to love London then. The school is right in the middle of Piccadilly Circus, which happens to be right in the middle of everything.'

'Great, I'm really excited to get started.'

He drives to the school and parks the car. He helps her get her bags out of the trunk and leads her into the dormitory where she will be living for the next couple of weeks. He shows her to her room, gives her the key, and a schedule of classes.

'So, classes take place right downstairs in the main theatre or on the second floor where the actual classrooms are. I'm actually an assistant at the school, so I should see you in passing. Here is a list of everyone in the program, where they are living, and their contact information. Well, today is Sunday, classes start tomorrow morning. I hope you don't have too much jetlag to perform,' he laughs.

'Yeah, me too. Thanks so much for your help.'

'No problem, see you around,' he says as he closes the door.

She looks around at the place where she will be spending a lot of time. It's definitely bigger than she thought it was going to be. She puts her bag on the bed and begins to unpack.

The night passes uneventfully for Brenda, and when she wakes up the next morning to get ready for class, she almost forgets where she is. She gets herself ready and makes her way down to the theatre for the introductory seminar.

There are three instructors standing on the stage and the students are sitting in the audience seats. She takes a seat near the front, opens her notebook, and tries to suppress the butterflies in her stomach. _'I can't believe that I am really here!'_ She looks around the room and notices a few other people that most likely are thinking the same thing she is.

_The Peach Pit_

Brandon and Kelly walk in to the Peach Pit and immediately spot their friends in the corner. They walk over to where Steve, Andrea, Dylan, and Donna are sitting.

'So, what are we going to do to keep ourselves busy this summer until school starts again?' Steve asks.

'Hey guys,' Brandon says as he and Kelly sit down.

'Hey B,' Dylan says.

'Hey D,' Brandon replies as they high five.

'Well, I'm working, I don't know about any of you, but I'll be busting my butt all summer,' Brandon reveals. 'Dylan, what are you going to be doing?'

'Ah, I don't know. Probably head on down the coast for a while,' Dylan says.

'I'm going to be helping my mom with Erin probably and just relaxing until someone decides that he's worked enough for one summer and wants to hang out with me,' Kelly says, as she smiles brightly at Brandon and playfully elbows him in the side.

'Oh, really? Then I guess I'll have reconsider working all summer,' Brandon says.

Dylan notices the look that Kelly is giving Brandon during their exchange. He remembers that look and gets a slight pang in his chest when he sees that it is no longer directed at him.

'Well, I'm going to take off. See you guys around,' Dylan says, as he throws some money on the table and walks out.

Dylan drives back to his house and immediately goes to the dining room table and pulls out another piece of paper. _'What the hell? Why am I feeling like this? I know that Kelly decided that she would be better off with Brandon and that I decided that I couldn't handle her crap anymore, but I shouldn't be feeling this.'_

He begins to write and continues to write until he realizes that it's dark outside and he hasn't turned on any lights. He flips the light on, goes into the kitchen for a glass of water and returns to the table. He picks up the paper that he had been writing on and begins to read it.

_I thought that maybe, after all that we had been through, that just maybe I was falling in love with Kelly. I tried to see past her insecurities and horrible family life that had caused her so much pain. I had thought that we could bond over having to live through some pretty awful stuff as children and young adults. There are definitely parts of her character that I connected with on a real level. On the other hand, Brenda brought out parts of me that I had forgotten about. I wasn't sure that I could be a whole person again with the drugs and the booze and the nameless sex, but she taught me so much about life and the right way to live. I guess there were good and bad things about both of them. Pro for Brenda being that she stood by me and believed in me through some of the hardest times in my life. Even after we separated, I found myself still running to her or thinking of what she would say if she were around to help me through the tough times. Pro for Kelly being that she gave me the freedom to do what I wanted and was always patiently waiting when I was done, well except when it came to Brenda._

Dylan continues to read and realizes that he has written out a Brenda vs. Kelly pro and con list from his experiences with both of them. He's not sure if this letter is particularly therapeutic in any way, but he does realize that he needs to either get over his jealousy of Kelly's happiness with Brandon or act on it now before it's too late.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2 – Brenda begins classes and Dylan tries to deal with his feelings_

_RADA_

Brenda had been immersed in classes and workshops for about a week. She was learning so much about technique and emotional control while on the stage and was really excited to have met a great bunch of people that were also in the program. She was finishing up her evaluation of the scene they had read in class that day when she heard a knock on her door.

Brenda walks over and opens the door to find her new friends standing there.

'Hey guys! I was just finishing up my evaluation,' she says.

'Well, get that stuff done because we are partying tonight,' Jennifer says.

Jennifer, Amanda, Toby, Sean, and Lily enter her room and spread out on the carpet. They bring in some snack food, along with the Silver Screen version of Trivial Pursuit and begin to set it up. There's another knock on the door and Amanda gets up to let Jason in. Jason walks in carrying a cooler with him and sets it on the floor. He looks up at Brenda and smiles.

'You don't mind, do you?' he asks.

'Um, no, no, go right ahead.'

They spend the night playing the game, chowing down on snacks, and having fun. Everyone except for Brenda has a drink or two and just spends the night relaxing and getting to know each other better.

A few hours later, they leave so that they can get some sleep for class the next day. Brenda walks over to her desk area and begins to write a letter to Donna. She tells her all about her new friends and how much she is learning. She asks Donna how her summer is shaping up and hopes that she is strong enough to resist the temptation to either kill or get back together with David. She invites Donna to come and visit her during her last week of classes in hopes that maybe time is what she needs to get over David cheating on her. She tells Donna that time is what she needed when Kelly and Dylan stabbed her in the back and she assures Donna that she will make it through this, just like she did. She finishes her letter and begins another one to Dylan. She tells him all about her new friends and her fantastic experiences at the school. She tells him that she is so happy that she made the decision to enter this program and believes that just having this on her resume will open doors for her that would have never opened. She tells him that she misses him and promises that they will see each other soon in order to continue their new found relationship with each other.

Brenda puts postage on her letters and decides to mail them that night just so that they will get there in a reasonable amount of time.

_The Peach Pit – a few days later_

Donna comes in and finds Brandon, Kelly, Steve, and Andrea sitting in a booth talking.

'Guess what, guys? I got a letter from Brenda!' Donna exclaims.

'Really, I didn't get one,' Brandon says, pretending to look hurt.

'She says that she's met a great group of people that are in the program with her and that she's having a lot of fun hanging out with them. She's learning a lot and has absolute faith that this program will help to jumpstart her acting career,' Donna explains.

'Wow, sounds like she's having a blast. I hope she remembers us when she's famous,' Steve says.

'Come on, Steve, who could forget you?' Kelly laughs.

'Thanks, Kel, I appreciate that.'

'She also said that she wants me to come and visit her during her last week of classes. She thinks that getting away from here for a while will help me deal with the whole, you know, David situation,' Donna says, looking at her feet.

'Donna, if taking a break from the hustle and bustle of this town for a while will help to clear your head about your situation with David, I think you should go,' Kelly says. 'You are just torturing yourself by staying here and watching him degrade himself to a common slut.'

'Yeah, maybe you're right,' Donna says, with a weak smile.

'At least think about it, okay? I think it's great that Brenda, of all people, is trying to help you through this. It's good to have someone who's been there to help you through tough situations,' Brandon says, before he realizes what he is actually saying.

Kelly shifts uncomfortably in her seat and wrings her hands a little bit.

'Yeah, she's been really great, actually. Well, I'll definitely think about it,' Donna says. 'Now, where is Nat, I need some food!'

_Dylan's House_

The phone rings and Dylan puts his book down on the coffee table to answer it.

'Hello?'

'Hey D,' Brandon says.

'Hey B, what's going on?'

'I was just wondering if you had left yet or anything, I haven't seen you around the Peach Pit in a few days,' Brandon says, a little concerned.

'Nah, not yet, I'm waiting for the front to move in a bit.'

'Cool. Donna says that she got a letter from Brenda in London. Have you heard from her at all, because she didn't write to me?'

'No, but then again, I haven't checked my mail in a few days, so there might be something there. How is she doing?'

'According to what she wrote to Donna, she's doing great. She's met some new people and loves her classes. No regrets, you know. Man, I wish I had the opportunities that get thrown at that girl's feet,' Brandon says. 'She was also concerned about how Donna is holding up, you know, being that David went and slept with that record company chick and then broke her heart.'

Dylan sighs to himself and realizes that despite the fact that he was the one who broke her heart, that Brenda is confident enough to help Donna through this situation.

'Yeah, well, you know Brenda, always willing to help out her friends any way she can.'

'She even invited Donna to take a break from this crazy town, and David's antics, and go and visit her in London while she's there. It's amazing, my sister gets to go to Europe twice in two years, and she doesn't even invite her own brother. Man, did I get the raw end of this deal.'

Dylan winces a little when Brandon tells him that Brenda invited Donna to London.

'Yeah, well, what are you going to do? Look, man, I've got to get going. I'll talk to you soon,' Dylan says quickly.

'Yeah, alright, see you soon.'

Dylan gets up off of the couch and goes to his mailbox. A smile creeps across his face for a second when he sees a letter from Brenda for him. He reads about her excitement with her new friends and the fact that she is so glad that she made the decision to enter this program. She doesn't mention anything about visiting her or her extension to Donna. She just says that she misses him and can't wait until she can spend more time with him.

He begins to crumple the letter a little and then stops himself. He can feel the anger rising in his chest and takes a few deep breaths. _'Well, maybe I'll be here and maybe I won't be here when you decide you want to spend more time together..'_

He goes into the bedroom and begins to pack a bag. He quickly grabs his bag, his surfboard, and the pro/con list off of the table, gets in his car and takes off.

_RADA – a few days later_

The phone begins to ring and Brenda is almost startled by it. She recovers her composure and answers it.

'Well, my darling twin, how the hell are you?' Brandon's voice comes through the receiver.

'Brandon! Oh, my God, this must be costing a fortune!' Brenda says with excitement.

'Yeah, well Mom and Dad said I could,' he says with a childlike whine.

She laughs and says, 'You are such a child.'

'So, how long until you come back?'

'Well, I've been here for two and a half weeks, so about three and a half more weeks and I will be home. I'm having such a great time. I am learning more here in a few short weeks than I would have ever learned at California University.'

'I'm glad you're doing okay, Bren. I am also very proud of you for extending your shoulder to Donna in her time of need. That is really mature of you, especially since you may be reliving your experience just to help her understand hers better. I'm really proud of you for helping Donna try to get over being cheated on by David. I really am.'

Brenda's smile disappears. 'Yeah, well, a friend in need,' her voice trails off. 'Speaking of being cheated on, how is Dylan?'

Brandon laughs a little at her question. 'Well, I'm not sure. He took off about a few days ago without telling me where he was going, but his surfboard's gone, so I'm thinking, Baja.'

Brenda feels a lump in her throat when Brandon tells her that.

'Oh, yeah, you're probably right. He usually does go down to Baja during the summer for a bit. How's Kelly and the rest of the gang?' she says.

'The gang is doing well. Kelly is,' Brandon stops for a moment and begins to smile, 'well, she's great. I think we're really connecting and having a great time together.'

'Brandon, that's great. I'm glad you have finally found someone who makes you happy, that's not married,' Brenda says.

'Ha ha, thanks so much. Although, I haven't talked to Dylan about it yet. I'm not sure he's too comfortable seeing us together. I probably should have said something to him, but it happened so fast, that I just didn't,' Brandon says, a little concerned.

'What do you mean? Has he said anything to you?'

'Well, no, but we were hanging out in the Peach Pit a while ago and Kelly and I were talking about spending the summer together and he just got up and took off pretty quickly.'

Brenda begins to feel tightness in her chest and the lump in her throat seemst to get impossibly bigger as Brandon is talking about Dylan's reaction to him and Kelly together.

'Well, maybe when he gets back you should have a heart to heart or something,' she says.

'Yeah, probably, well, I better go before Mom and Dad take out a second mortgage on the house to pay for this phone call!'

'I'm so glad you called. I'll talk to you soon, okay?' Brenda says.

'I miss you, have fun and come back safe, you hear?'

'Aye, aye,' she says, 'Bye Brandon.'

'Bye Brenda.'

Brenda continues to feel a little uneasy with what Brandon had told her. She immediately looks up the country code for the United States. She finds it and begins dialing Dylan's house number. After one ring, the machine picks up, frustrated Brenda hangs up without leaving a message. _'I can't believe he just ran away like that. There's got to be something more than what Brandon is telling me.'_

In class, Brenda tries to work on the scene that she is in for the end of the program performance. She keeps forgetting her lines and her blocking and steps over her scene partner's lines.

'Brenda, what the hell is going on? Focus! What has gotten in to you today?' the instructor yells at her.

'I'm sorry.'

'Yeah, well, sorry isn't going to get this scene right, now get into it. Now!'

Brenda tries as hard as she can to concentrate on her scene. She gets through it a few times before class is over.

'Brenda, can I see you for a minute, please?' the instructor calls to her after class is over.

'Sure, Jeff,' she says dejected.

'Listen, Roy has high hopes for you, young lady. That's why he did what he did to get you into this program. I'm not saying that he's wrong, because you definitely have the talent to make it in this business, but you have got to learn to concentrate and focus on what you are doing. I can't have you distracted up there. You have the best grasp of this scene than anyone in this class. I need you to get it together.'

'I know, I'm sorry, it won't happen again. I promise,' she says as she looks up at him.

'That's a girl. Now get out of here and bring me something that will blow me away tomorrow.'

Brenda walks up to her room, locks her door, shuts off her light and sits on her bed. She worries about Dylan and wonders why he's running. _'Maybe he found that he really does still have feelings for Kelly and that reconciling with me was a mistake. Maybe he's decided to find someone else entirely and get out of this triangle mess once and for all. Maybe... no. NO! I am not getting sucked into this again. Whatever is happening back there is none of my business right now. I have a job to do and I will not let this worry me. I will not let this distract me. I will block it out. I cannot have these feelings ruin my chance here in this class. I refuse to give in to it this time. I told him that if something came up to grab it, so I have to assume he did and get over this NOW!'_

Brenda sighs heavily. She wipes the tears from her cheeks, takes a big deep breath, and gets up off of the bed. She changes her clothes, climbs into bed and drifts peacefully off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3 – Dylan makes a decision and Donna arrives in London_

_Baja_

Dylan sits on the beach watching the water crash onto the sand. He thinks back to what he almost did last night and shudders. He had met a beautiful Mexican girl in the hotel lounge the night before and took her back to his room. He almost went through with it with this girl and couldn't keep the thoughts of Brenda and Kelly out of his head long enough to actually do it. He asked her to leave. He sat on the bed and tried to figure out exactly what he was doing. '_I have got to figure this out. Brenda always told me that my first instinct was to run and I did. I am such a freaking coward.'_

He sits down and begins to write. He tries as hard as he can to figure out what he really wants. _'It's time to grow up. It's time to get on with my life and decide what the future is going to look like for Dylan McKay. I can't keep doing this. I'm not strong enough to handle this by myself. I will be alone for the rest of my life if I continue to run.'_

He writes all night long until the sun comes up. He grabs the pages that he has written and walks out onto the beach. He sits there and stares at the sun reflecting off of the ocean. A tear rolls down his face as he looks down at the pages in his hands. _'It's time to end this once and for all. I just hope I'm not too late.'_

He gets up, packs his bags, and gets in the car headed back to Beverly Hills.

_The Peach Pit – a few days later_

'Okay, guys. I guess this is it. I'm off to London to visit Brenda! She said I could come a little early and stay in her room while she's in class!' Donna says with excitement.

'I'm so glad you are taking advantage of this. Tell her we love her and that we will see her soon. And Donna, try to have fun, okay?' Kelly says.

'I will. I'll see you guys soon!' Donna says. She hugs everyone and goes out the back door of the Pit to the car that is taking her to the airport.

'Donna?' she hears as she is getting in the car. She looks up and turns around.

'Dylan? I thought you were in Baja?'

'Just got back this minute,' he says as he nods over to his car, which still has his surfboard in it. 'I heard you say that you were off to visit Brenda.

'Um, yeah, I'm leaving right now,' she says. She looks up at Dylan's face and thinks that it's entirely possible that he's been crying.

'Listen,' he says as he looks down at the floor and then back up at her. Donna looks at him and thinks that any second he might actually break down.

'Can you take this letter and give it Brenda when you see her for me?' Dylan asks as he holds out an envelope for her to take.

She looks down at the envelope and then back up at him. 'Um, sure, I will. Dylan, are you alright?' she says as she puts her hand on his shoulder.

'Yeah, I will be. Thanks,' he says and begins to walk away.

Donna stands in the middle of the parking lot of the Pit, holding Dylan's letter, and is frozen with bewilderment for a few seconds. She hears the driver clear his throat and realizes that she better get going or she'll miss her plane. She shoves the letter in her carry on bag and gets in the car.

_Heathrow Airport_

Donna grabs her bags from the baggage claim and walks through the terminal. She looks at the long line of people for a familiar brunette.

'Donna!' she hears Brenda calling her name.

'Brenda!!!' she yells and runs to hug her friend. 'Oh my God, you look great!'

'Thanks! You look great too. Is that a new dress?' Brenda asks.

'Of course it is, can't travel in old clothes now can you?' Donna smiles at her.

'Well, let's get your bags and get going. I can't wait for you to meet everybody!'

Brenda and Donna make their way through the airport and grab a taxi back to RADA. Brenda brings Donna into her room and puts her bags on the cot her friend Jennifer had lent her.

'Well, here it is. This is where I've been living for the past few weeks.'

Donna walks over to the window and looks out on the city of London. 'Wow, Bren. This definitely reminds me of Paris. It's great!' Donna smiles and hugs her friend.

In between classes and rehearsals, Brenda and her friends show Donna around London. They take her to Harrods first, where she proceeds to spend 4 hours shopping. They go out to eat and hang out together with Brenda's friends.

'Wow, Bren,' Donna says as they are getting ready for bed, 'you're friends are great! You have such a connection with them, like you've known them you're whole life. It's amazing.'

'Yeah, I know, isn't that weird? Maybe it's because as actors in this program we all have our emotions right on the surface. It's much easier to connect with people when you've really got nothing to hide, you know?' Brenda says.

After two days of sight seeing, Donna and Brenda were relaxing in Brenda's room. There's a knock at the door and Jason lets himself in.

'Hey Brenda, we're going run the scene a few times, do you want to run it with us?'

'Oh, yeah, definitely, can we run it in here? I don't want to leave Donna.'

'Yeah, let me get everyone else,' Jason smiles at her.

'Wow, Bren, he's cute! Did you see the way he was looking at you?'

Brenda smiles at Donna as her friends enter her room to rehearse. They begin running their lines while Donna rummages through her purse for her lip gloss. She stands in the mirror applying her lip gloss when she hears, '…we begin with a love story of two people separated by miles and miles. This is 'Letters from Home'.'

Donna gasps. She turns around quickly to see if anyone heard her, but they are all focused on the scene they are rehearsing. Donna begins to frantically search through her carry on bag for the letter she had forgotten about from Dylan. _'Oh my God, Brenda is going to kill me. I can't believe I forgot about Dylan's letter.'_ Donna sits through the next 30 minutes in agony, while Brenda and her classmates finish their scene. Everyone begins to leave and as soon as the door closes, Donna stands up.

'Brenda, please forgive me. I am so sorry,' Donna says slowly while looking down at the floor.

'Donna, what is it? Are you okay?' Brenda asks, concerned.

'Yeah, I'm fine. As I was walking to the car to get to the airport, I ran into Dylan in the parking lot of the Peach Pit.'

Brenda's heart skips a beat at the mention of his name.

'Bren, I'm not sure what's going on, but he didn't look good. He looked like he was about to loose it right there in the parking lot. It definitely looked like he had been crying a little, which I can honestly say that I've never ever seen him like that or anything close to that. Anyway, he gave me this to give to you and I totally forgot I had it until now. Please don't be mad at me.'

Donna hands her Dylan's letter. 'Oh, Donna,' Brenda gets up and embraces her friend, 'I'm not mad at you. I'm really concerned about him. Did he say anything?'

'Oh, thank God you're not mad!' Donna says with a sigh of relief. 'He didn't say much of anything. I asked him if he was alright and he said that he would be. Bren, I know it's probably none of my business, but what is going on between you and Dylan?'

Brenda sighs. She holds the letter in both of her hands. 'Well, it started the day that Brandon was in Washington meeting the President,' Brenda begins. She proceeds to tell Donna about the night she spent with Dylan and a brief version of everything he did for her the night before she left for London.

'Oh, Bren, wow, that seems a little out of character for Dylan, don't you think? It's amazing how he was able to put that all together for you and not expect that you begin dating him again,' Donna says.

'Yeah, I know, weird isn't it?' Brenda says. 'I just didn't want to run into a wall again, you know? I wanted both of us to really feel this one out and make sure that we weren't in a place where we were just going to be hurting each other again. I want this to be real and if it's really going to work then we both have to grow up a little,' Brenda says.

'Oh my God, Bren, you know what I just realized? He was doing fine and hanging out with all of us a few nights a week. Brandon said that he called Dylan and told him that I had been invited to come out here and he was a little short on the phone and then he got a little weird and disappeared on us. I didn't see him again until he stopped me in the parking lot right before I left.'

Brenda gasps a little. 'Oh, no, Donna, do you realize what that must have looked like to him? Like I chose you over him or something? I thought he would know better than that.'

'Well, maybe he does and maybe he doesn't. There's only one way to find out,' she says as she nods to the letter Brenda is holding.

Brenda looks down at the letter in her hands and takes a deep breath. 'Donna? I'm going to go and read this alone. I'll be back, okay?'

'Yeah, just don't freak out on me. If you're going to freak out, come and get me first, okay?'

'Okay, I promise,' Brenda smiles at her and gives her a hug. Brenda leaves her room and goes downstairs to the theatre. She turns on the light in the auditorium and sits in the middle of the stage. She opens Dylan's letter, takes a breath and begins to read.

_'Brenda,_

_There are a few things that I wanted to explain to you. I can't say I wasn't a little hurt when you asked Donna to join you instead of me. I can't say that I didn't react poorly and take off like everyone expected me to do. I can say that when I was done running, I realized why you reached out to Donna and I don't blame you one bit. I'm so sorry. You have no idea how sorry I am._

_I have another confession to make. Seeing Brandon and Kelly together and happy made me a little jealous. I started having doubts about how I felt about both of you so I did something stupid.'_

Brenda's heart sinks a little. She closes her eyes, let's out a deep breath, wipes the tears from her eyes and keeps reading.

_'I made a list. A good/bad list. After reading it over, I realize that none of those things matter. I know how I feel and I know what I want. After everything we went through the night before you left for London, I am more and more convinced that this relationship we are building will be for a lifetime. I promised myself and I promise you now that I will not hold anything back. Our relationship suffered because I was too much of a coward to face the music and I would not give in to what I really felt. I won't be doing that anymore. Please, call me. Call me collect if you have to. I need to hear your voice. I need to tell you that I really mean all of these things and hear you say that you hear me. I'm done running and I'm ready to grow up a little. Please. Dylan.'_

Brenda makes her way back up to her room. She opens the door and sees Donna pacing back and forth inside the room.

'You're going to burn a hole in the floor pacing like that?' Brenda says, with a weak smile.

'Bren, are you okay? Your eyes are little puffy,' she says as she hands Brenda a tissue.

'Yeah, I am. Everything's fine. He just needed some time to think things out,' Brenda says. 'I think he's going to want to come out and see us, though!'

Donna laughs as Brenda picks up the phone and dials his number.


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4 – Brenda talks to Dylan_

'Hello?'

'Now that's the voice I was waiting to hear,' Brenda coos into the receiver.

'Brenda? It is so nice to hear your voice. I really miss you.'

Brenda smiles and says, 'You too Dylan. I just finished reading your letter.'

Dylan's chest tightens. _'She read it and she called you, that's got to be a good sign, right?'_

'What took you so long? Didn't Donna show up like days ago?' Dylan asks a little concerned.

'Well, Donna had a little forgetful spell, but it's alright now,' Brenda laughs.

Dylan is silent for a few seconds.

'Bren, I'm sorry I disappeared like that.'

'Dylan, it's okay. You needed some time. I'm glad you came back,' Brenda says.

Dylan lets out a breath he had been holding.

'Dylan, I have a surprise for you,' she says.

'A surprise for me? Does it involve massage oil and a sauna?'

'Dylan!' Brenda says indignantly and then begins to laugh. 'No, it's not that kind of surprise. The last week of the program the instructors have asked us to bring friends and loved ones to sit in on the rehearsals and attend the final performance for the class. I thought about inviting everyone to come and see what I've done this summer, but I realized something. I only want you here. Please say that you will?' Brenda pleads.

Dylan laughs and says, 'Now, with an intro like that, how could I say no?'

While Brenda is rehearsing and doing homework, Donna decides that she needs to get out and have fun. She joins a bunch of Brenda's friends for a night on the town. When she comes back to the room, Brenda on her bed, holding a book, and fast asleep. Donna takes the book from her hand and she stirs a little and opens her eyes.

'Hey,' Brenda says a little groggy.

'Hey, Bren,'

'Did you have a good time?'

'Yeah, I did. I actually had a great time,' Donna says with a smile. Brenda sits up a little bit and Donna sits on the bed with her.

'Do tell,' Brenda says.

'I like your actor friends. They are so much fun and carefree. I kind of forgot what it was like to just go out and have fun. I am really glad that you invited me here and that I decided to come.'

'Me too, Donna, I am so glad you are able to get out there and relax, if only for a little while.'

'Bren, David really hurt me. I'm not sure if I can forgive him for that. I love him so much, but I can't get my head around the fact that he lied to me and in the end all he wanted was to get off. I felt as if our entire relationship meant nothing to him.'

Brenda sighs and puts her arm around her friend. 'I know Donna, I know.'

They hold onto each other for a little while. Donna sighs and smiles.

'Thanks Bren, this is just what I needed. So, a bunch of your friends are taking a little celebratory trip to Paris after the classes are over.'

'Yeah, I think I remember Jason mentioning something like that,' Brenda recalls.

'Well, they invited me to go along and I think I'm going to. Since you told everyone in California that the class ends a week after it really ends, I figured you were going to do some bumming around too,' Donna says as she winks in Brenda's direction.

'Oh, yeah, well,' Brenda stammers, caught in her own lie, 'the idea behind that was so that Dylan and I could spend some time together away from the all seeing eyes of Beverly Hills. Our new found friendship is still, well, new, and I want to make sure that this is what we want before we broadcast it to everyone, you know? I think it's great that you are going to Paris with them. You can show them around for a change.'

'Yeah, I figured, we can time our return flights to LAX and get there at the same time. You know, from wherever you and Dylan are going to be,' Donna smiles, gets up, and heads over to her own bed.

_Heathrow Airport_

Donna waits for Dylan at the airport. He comes around the corner and sees her and smiles.

'Hey Donna, how are you?' he asks.

'I'm great, Dylan. I really am. How was your flight?'

'Hellish.'

Donna laughs at him as they walk out of the airport. 'Brenda's in class right now, but in about 15 minutes, they're going to be rehearsing their final performance and then we can go into the theatre and watch.'

'Great, I'm excited to see what this program is all about.'

Donna and Dylan arrive at the theatre. They walk in and take a seat in the back with all of the other friends and family members of the other students. They watch Brenda as she performs her part of the scene.

'Wow, she's gotten exponentially better than she was in the play. I didn't think that was possible,' Dylan whispers to Donna.

'Yeah, I know. She is meant to do this. It's her destiny,' Donna whispers back. They watch her with smiles on their faces.

After the rehearsal ends Dylan makes his way down to the stage. Brenda is standing on the stage and sees him coming down the aisle. She dramatically jumps off of the front of the stage and runs to him. He wraps his arms around her and spins her around before putting her down, grabbing the back of her head and kissing her passionately. Her classmates begin to giggle in the background and start clapping for them.

Brenda pulls away a little and begins to laugh before looking around the theatre. Dylan smiles at her and they walk hand in hand up to where Donna is sitting.

'Wow, that was quite a dramatic entrance,' she says.

Brenda and Dylan smile at each other again. 'Well, I need to go and change and then we can go grab a bite to eat.'

'Great, let's do it,' Dylan says.

Brenda, Dylan, and Donna are hanging out after dinner in Brenda's room. Donna decides to bring up the Paris trip to see if Dylan would be up to it.

'So, some of Brenda's actor friends are taking a celebratory trip to Paris after the class is over, do you think you might join us?'

Dylan looks at Brenda. She shrugs and says, 'Well, we have a week before anyone in California expects me back, so whatever you want to do, I am ready and willing.'

He smiles at her and then looks over at Donna and says, 'You know, as tempting as that sounds, I think we'll be going a little further south.'

Brenda sits up and looks at Dylan with a quizzical look.

'We'll be going down to the beautiful white sandy beaches of the Italian Riviera.'

Brenda smiles at him and he pulls her close to him with one arm.

'Wow, that's sounds very romantic,' Donna says.

_RADA – Final Performance_

Brenda leaves the room a few hours before the final performance to get herself ready. Donna and Dylan arrive at the theatre to see it filling up with people fast. They find their seats and smile at each other.

When Brenda comes out on stage to perform her scene, her presence is definitely felt. She dominates her lines, her character, and her performance soars above the rest of the cast. During the curtain call, she receives the only standing ovation.

Backstage the students are hugging each other. Brenda hugs her friend Amanda and then turns around to see Roy Randolph staring at her.

'I knew you were the one, Brenda Walsh, I just knew it,' he gloats.

'Roy! I wasn't sure if you were actually going to be here.'

'Brenda, darling, I wouldn't have missed this for the world,' he says as he hugs her. 'Now, come over here, there are a few producers and directors that want to get to know you better.'

Dylan and Donna make their way backstage and through the throng of people in time to see Brenda being handed business card and what looks like a bunch of scripts from a few older gentlemen.

'Look, that's Roy Randolph,' Donna points out to Dylan.

'Oh, yeah, he's the one who got her into this program, isn't he?'

Donna nods in response to Dylan's question. Brenda begins to walk in their direction with her arms full of papers. She looks up and sees them and smiles from ear to ear.

'Hey, Brenda, you were wonderful! You had such a presence up there. It was absolutely fascinating to watch,' Donna says.

'Thanks Donna, I felt great up there tonight.'

'Bren,' Dylan says as he embraces her. He takes the papers in her hands and says, 'You were incredible. Now, let's go celebrate.'

Brenda dumps the scripts and business cards on her bed and gets changed to go out on the town. Dylan, Brenda, and Donna join up with Brenda's classmates and they go out dancing to celebrate their final performance.


	5. Chapter 5

_Author' Note: Thank you all so much for your comments. I am so glad that you are liking this story!_

_The Time of Our Lives__ – Chapter 5 – Donna, Dylan, and Brenda enjoy their time before returning to Beverly Hills_

The next morning, Donna packs up her things and gets ready to leave to join Brenda's classmates in Paris.

'Okay, Bren, so my plane lands at LAX at 4pm next Sunday. When does yours?'

'I'm not sure. Dylan made the arrangements.'

'Our plane lands at LAX at 4:15pm next Sunday, so by the time we go down and get the bags, we should probably be able to meet you in the front of the airport at around 5:15.'

'Okay, well I'm off. Have a great time in Italy and I will see you guys back in the States!' Donna says excitedly.

'Bye Donna, have a good time in Paris! Don't eat any monkey brains while you are there, okay?' Brenda says with a laugh.

Donna begins to laugh and leaves the room.

'Well, Miss Walsh, are you almost ready to leave?' Dylan asks impatiently.

'Nope, there's still one more thing I have to do before we go.'

Dylan grunts out loud and sighs and throws himself down on her bed. He covers his head with her pillow while she laughs at him.

'What? What else do you need to do?' he whines from underneath the pillow.

She moves the pillow from his head and looks down on him. She smiles and says, 'You.'

He raises his eyebrows at her and grabs her around the waist and pulls her down to him.

Brenda and Dylan pack up their bags and make their way to the train station. They board a train to Paris in order to catch the TGV from Paris to Milan. They stay in Milan for a night and enjoy the wonder that is Italian culture. The next morning they hop another train from Milan to Genoa on the western coast.

'Oh, Dylan, it's absolutely gorgeous out here. You have to come and see,' Brenda stands outside of the hotel watching the sun set. Dylan comes out onto the balcony and wraps his arms around her waist.

'Wow, that is beautiful,' he says, as he lays kisses down her neck.

'Dylan, you're not even looking at it,' Brenda says as she turns her head up to him.

He smiles at her and pecks her on the nose. They stand for a few minutes and watch the sun go down.

'Well, tomorrow we will be on our way to the Riviera and a little tiny town that I just have a feeling, you are going to love,' Dylan says.

'I'm sure I will. I mean, we spent most of the trip on a moving train, but I have to say, I am having a great time,' she says as she smiles up at him.

'Yeah, me too, Bren, me too.'

They go inside to relax and sleep before they embark on their trip to Vernazza the next morning.

Brenda and Dylan arrive in the town in Vernazza the next morning.

'Wow, look at that view,' Brenda says. She stares at the tiny town surrounded by mountains and greenery in a horseshoe shape. She spies a little beach where there are umbrellas and beach chairs set up.

'Looks like the beach club, doesn't it?' Dylan says.

'Yeah, it sure does,' Brenda says softly. 'Dylan, we really need to talk about what's going to happen when we get back there.'

'I know, we will, just not right now. We have three glorious days to enjoy this great little town and then on to Rome, where we catch the dreaded plane back to the States.'

'You're right, let's enjoy this,' Brenda smiles at him.

_Paris_

Donna laughs at a joke Jason was telling while a group of them are out eating.

'That was really funny,' she says.

'Thanks,' he replies, 'So, Donna, are you having a good time with us? I mean, I know that Brenda isn't here to share in our joy of surviving the dreaded RADA summer program for actors, but I hope we're not boring you or anything?'

'Oh, no way, I'm having a great time. I mean, I do miss Brenda and wish she was here, but she and Dylan had some things they really needed to work out, without anyone getting in their way. I'm so glad you guys thought to invite me.'

'Absolutely, you my dear are a lot of fun,' Amanda says.

Donna smiles and relaxes into her chair. She looks around the table at these people that she had only met a week ago. She realizes how Brenda just fit right in and connected right away with them. They were genuine and they seemed to really care about each other. She begins to think about Steve, Andrea, Brandon, Kelly, and even David. They are a great group of friends, but it seemed as though when one of them is having a tough time, they became very selfish and shut off from each other. Feigning concern for each other, only to drop their friends for lovers or even strangers at a moment's notice was where their group of friends excelled.

She thinks about Kelly and Brenda. _'I know that I probably wasn't the most supportive person to Brenda when Kelly and Dylan broke her heart, but I did try to get them on speaking terms again. Brenda reached out to me when I found out that David cheated on me. She sat and listened to me, held my hand, made me feel safe, and tried her damnedest to walk me through these feelings. She really is my best friend. I only hope that Dylan doesn't screw this up again. I'm not sure she could take it.'_

'Earth to Donna? Are you there, Donna?' she could hear as she snapped out of her reflective moment.

'Oh,' she smiled, 'Sorry, I was just thinking and I guess I got a little carried away, huh?'

'What were you thinking about?' Lily asks.

'Oh, just my friends back home. You guys are so carefree and connect to each other so well. I was trying to figure out why that doesn't work for my friends back home. It's so complicated sometimes and I just wish it was as easy as this is,' Donna says. She smiles at all of them.

'Well, don't you worry about it one more second,' Jason says, 'because a few of us actually received offers after the show to work on some theatre out there in beautiful, sunny California. So, you won't be getting rid of us that easily and maybe our good traits will rub off on your friends.'

'Wow, really? That's great! I was trying to figure out how I would stay in touch with you guys. I really enjoyed hanging out with you and I am so excited that some of you may get to come and hang out with me!' Donna says.

_The Peach Pit_

'So, when are Brenda and Donna coming back? It seems like forever since Donna left us,' Steve says.

'Dude, she's only be gone for a week and a half,' Brandon says. 'I think they're due back sometime on Sunday.'

'We should throw them another welcome home party. I can't believe we're welcoming the two of them back from Europe, again,' Andrea says.

'Yeah, anybody else have some really weird déjà vu going on?' Brandon says.

Kelly shifts uncomfortably in her seat. She flashes back to the first Brenda/Donna welcome home party and begins to feel a little nausea.

'Kel, do you want to help with the decorations?'

'Oh, um, yeah, totally, just tell me what we need,' she says, slightly distracted.

Brandon looks over at Kelly and sees the spaced out look on her face. He furrows his brow in confusion for a few seconds and then it hits him. _'Of course she remembers the last welcome home party. That was right after her and Dylan hooked up behind Brenda's back.'_

He begins to get a little uncomfortable. _'Maybe before I talk to Dylan about what happened, I should talk to Kelly. This has to be resolved before this relationship gets too deep.'_

_Vernazza, Italy_

Brenda and Dylan spend their last day in Vernazza on the beach and then go out for a romantic dinner. They laugh and enjoy each other's company.

'You know Dylan, this is so comfortable, easy, and stress-free. I always imaged our relationship being like this, but I never thought that I would actually see it for real,' Brenda says. 'Don't get mad, but honestly, I haven't had one bad thought, I haven't gotten angry or jealous or anything this entire time.'

'Yeah, you know, I haven't had any thoughts about running, so I guess that's a good sign, right?' Dylan laughs and Brenda joins him.

'Look, this is all well and good, but we're not going to be in Italy forever. We need to talk about this and how it relates to home. I don't want to show up and be uncertain with the meaning of what we have,' Brenda says.

'Well, let's have the talk then so that we can enjoy the rest of our night here in this beautiful town,' Dylan smiles at her.

They finish their meal and make their way back to their hotel room. They sit on the balcony and watch the water.

'Dylan, let me just say that I am having the most wonderful time with you on this trip. And let me add that I am so glad that I lied to everyone and told them that the course was one week longer than it actually was,' Brenda says.

Dylan laughs a little and smiles at her. 'Well, I am also having a great time with you and am also very glad that you lied to everyone else.'

'Bren, it's going to be a little weird when we get back. I know that we're taking this round slowly and I am totally on board with that, but I think we need to have something to tell everyone so that they'll get off of our backs. We've got to find a way to separate ourselves from them every now and again, or we'll just drown like we did before.'

Brenda nods her agreement with Dylan.

'I agree. Once in a while will not be enough, Dylan, I think once a week will hardly be enough,' Brenda smiles at him. 'Look, I'm going to be auditioning all over the place and trying to get as much experience as I can acting during the school year. If I get a good job, I might not even go back to school. That's something that I think you and I need to talk about too,' Brenda says, as she lowers her head a little bit.

'You think you might give up on school? That's a pretty big decision, Bren,' Dylan says.

'Yeah, I know, but I don't want to close any doors because my parents feel the need to send me through four years of college. If I can get a break, I'm going to take it.'

'Well, you know I'll support whatever decision you make.'

Brenda smiles at him. 'Yes I do know that. Dylan, what the hell are we going to tell people?'

'Well, why don't we figure out what we're doing first?' Dylan says as he looks up at her.

'Dylan, I love you. I want for us to build a strong relationship that we can both be proud of. I don't want the physical stuff get in the way of us being real to each other,' Brenda says.

'I couldn't agree more. There is no way to deny the raw attraction,' he says as he strokes her face with his hand, 'but I don't want to hurt you anymore.'

She warms to his touch, looks up at him and kisses him gently. 'Honesty, Dylan. We have to be honest with each other. Our relationship in high school was built on a lot of things, but we both drifted in different directions and kept our real feelings to ourselves. We can't do that this time. If that ends up happening when we get back, you have to promise me that we'll make a clean break and never try to do this again.'

'I promise. Brenda, I have missed you so much and I don't think you can even imagine how much I love you right now.'

Brenda smiles at him and kisses his face. He wraps his arms around her and sits her on his lap. He kisses her passionately and lets go all of his trepidation about her not wanting to get into another relationship with him. _'I swear I will do everything in my power to keep this woman happy. I swear.'_

Brenda and Dylan make their way down to Rome the next day. They spend the day, hand in hand, enjoying the city together.

'Well, baby, it looks like it's about that time,' Dylan says as he kisses the side of Brenda's face.

'Really? Damn. I'm not ready to go back,' Brenda whines a little.

'Now, now, that's enough of that. Let's make our way back to the hotel and get out of here.'

They make their way to the airport and get ready to board the plane back to the States.

_Paris_

'Well, Donna, I guess this is the end of the line,' Jason says.

'Oh, Donna, we're going to miss you!' Lily says as she gives Donna a hug.

'Me too, guys. Don't forget to give me a call if you guys make it out to LA. I would love to show you around and introduce you to everyone!' she says.

'Don't worry, we will! Bye!' Amanda says.

'Bye!'

Donna gets ready to board her plane and hopes that Brenda and Dylan have made it through their little 'romantic excursion' in one piece.


	6. Chapter 6

_The Time of Our Lives__ – Chapter 6 – Donna, Brenda, and Dylan return_

_Casa Walsh_

'When does Brenda's plane get in?' Brandon asks his dad.

'Um, I think she said around 4:15, but Donna is going to drive her here from the airport so that we don't have to go and pick her up. Is everything ready for the welcome home party?'

'Yeah, I think so. Kelly and Andrea are over at the Peach Pit getting it decorated for them and Nat has the food all ready to go. We just need to bring over the cake and I think we'll be set.'

The telephone rings and Brandon gets up to answer it.

'Hello?'

'Hi Brandon,' Kelly says.

'Hey, how's everything going?'

'Oh, great, the decorations are all up and we have the welcome home sign posted. When are you coming over?' Kelly asks with hope.

'Well, I think I can make my way over in a little bit. I have to go pick up the cake first and then I will be there.'

'Okay, I just wanted to make sure that we'd have some time, you know, alone, before the place is packed with everyone.'

'You got it. I'll be there shortly,' Brandon says and hangs up the phone.

'Okay, I'm going to go get the cake and then help Kelly and Andrea put up the rest of the decorations. I'll see you guys over there, okay?' Brandon says to his parents.

_The Peach Pit_

'Just a little higher on your side, Kelly,' Nat says as he tries to make sure that the banner is straight. 'Perfect, that's perfect, pin it right there.'

Kelly steps down off of the stepstool and hands it back to Nat.

'Thanks, Nat!'

'Hey Kelly, do you think there are enough streamers up or should we put up some more?' Andrea asks.

'Um, I think that's enough. I'm sure they won't even notice them.'

'Kel, are you okay? You've been a little distracted today.'

'Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I just can't help but think about the last time these two came home from Europe,' Kelly says as her voice trails off.

Andrea walks over to where Kelly is standing and puts her hand on Kelly's shoulder.

'Are you nervous or something? You're with Brandon now and Brenda already knows about it, unless there's something you're trying to hide, I don't see why you should be uncomfortable.'

'No, it's not that. I'm not nervous about seeing her. I'm just a little confused right now. The circumstances by which Brandon and I got together are eerily similar to when Dylan and I got together and I guess I'm feeling the same kind of uneasiness and regret that I did then. Is that horrible of me?' Kelly asks on the verge of tears.

'Oh, Kel, no, it's not horrible of you. It seems that there are a lot of issues that you still haven't worked through though. Maybe you need to sit down with Dylan and Brandon and work through them together. Having unresolved issues like that can tear you apart from the inside out,' Andrea says.

'Yeah, maybe you're right,' Kelly says with a weak smile.

The bell over the door chimes and Brandon walks in with a full sheet cake in his hands.

'The cake has arrived!'

Nat comes from the back of the kitchen to relieve Brandon of the cake.

'Hey Nat, here it is. Ladies, it looks great in here. Good job with the decorations!' Brandon says.

'Oh, thanks, Brandon. It was fun. I'm really excited to have this party. We haven't all gotten together in a really long time to just have some fun,' Andrea says.

Kelly immediately brightens up when Brandon comes in the door. She walks over to him and he gives her a quick kiss.

'Hey, Kel,' Brandon says.

'Hey, can we talk?'

'Yeah, let's go out back,' Brandon says.

He leads her out the back door and as soon as they are outside, wraps his arms around her and kisses her with force.

'Mmmm, that's some nice conversation,' Kelly says.

'Yeah, I thought so,' Brandon says as he kisses her again.

'Wait, wait Brandon, I actually really wanted to talk too,' Kelly says.

Brandon smiles at her and leans against his car.

'I just wanted to tell you that I'm feeling a little uncomfortable for this party. My mind keeps flashing back to the first time Brenda and Donna came home from Europe and I can't shake the uneasiness.'

'I'm sorry. Is there something I can do?' Brandon says with concern.

'I don't think so. I think that maybe, I need to talk to Dylan. I think that there are some unresolved issues that I need closure to before I can feel comfortable. I mean, he cheated on Brenda with me, and I cheated on him with you. I can't help but see this horrible pattern emerging in me. I need to figure this out.'

'Well, Kel, whatever you need to do, then do it. I will be here to help you in any way that I can, okay?' Brandon says, as he lifts her chin with his hand.

'Okay,' she says softly and wraps her arms around him.

_LAX_

Brenda and Dylan get their bags and make their way to the front of the airport to meet up with Donna. They spot her standing near the doors with a bunch of bags at her feet.

'Hey, Donna!' Brenda says.

'Bren!' Donna says and hugs her friend. 'Hey Dylan, how was your trip? Did you guys have fun?'

'We had a great time. How was Paris?' Dylan says.

'Oh, Paris was great. Bren, I think a bunch of those guys might come out here to LA to get some work in a few weeks. How great is that?'

'Oh, really, that is great. I'm so glad you connected with them. They are really good people,' Brenda says.

'Well, shall we go? I called Kelly and her mom said that she was at the Peach Pit getting ready for our surprise welcome home party,' Donna says with a smile.

'Oh, yeah, great surprise!' Brenda says.

'I don't even think she knew what she was telling me. Anyway, we should get going.'

'Well, I will see you girls later then,' Dylan says as he grabs Brenda and kisses her passionately.

Donna raises her eyebrows as she watches them connect. _'I guess they had a __really__ good time together!'_

Donna and Brenda get in the car and the driver takes them to Brenda's house.

_Casa Walsh_

'Mom? Dad? I'm home!' Brenda calls as she and Donna enter the house.

'Brenda? Is that you?' Cindy says as she comes out of the kitchen. She goes to her daughter and holds her tight. She lets go and gives Donna a hug too.

'Oh, honey, I am so glad you are home.'

'Me too, Mom. I had such a wonderful experience at RADA. It was amazing!' Brenda beams.

'I'm so glad. Well, are you tired or feeling jetlagged?' Cindy asks.

'Not really, I'm still kind of awake. Why?'

'Well, we were going to go down to the Peach Pit to visit your brother and get something to eat,' Cindy says.

'Mom, we know about the party. Kelly's mom slipped up and told Donna when she called.'

'Oh, okay, well then, put your stuff upstairs and let's go!'

'Donna, are you going to go home first or do you want to ride over with us?' Brenda asks.

'Um, I think I'll come with you. It's easier that way!'

'Well, let me call down there and make sure that they're ready for you,' Cindy says. She walks over to the phone and before she can pick it up it begins to ring.

'Hello?' Cindy says. 'Well, hello to you too. I heard you were out of town for a while. Oh, that's great. Yeah, I'm glad you heard about it, we're on our way down there right now. Okay, see you there.'

'Cindy, who was that?' Jim asks as he walks into the kitchen.

Cindy looks around for Brenda, seeing that she's not there, whispers to Jim, 'Dylan. He's back from Baja and found out about the party.'

Cindy calls down to the Pit and Nat tells them that everyone has arrived and they are anxiously awaiting the guests of honor.

Cindy and Jim walk into the living room where Brenda and Donna are waiting.

'Okay, we're ready to go.'

They head over to the Peach Pit and let Donna and Brenda walk in first.

'Surprise!! Welcome back!' Everyone shouts.

'Wow! You guys put this together for us?' Donna says.

Kelly, Brandon, Steve, and Andrea walk up and give them hugs.

'Come on now, sit down and tell us all about it!'

Brenda begins to talk about her experience at RADA and in London with Donna. Donna tells the gang about the great group of people that she met and how absolutely fantastic Brenda was in her final performance for the class.

'Oh, honey we are so proud of you,' Jim says.

Nat comes out of the kitchen. 'Okay everybody time to eat! We have everything set up right over here.'

As he says that the door opens and Dylan walks in closely followed by David.

'Dylan! You're back too! How was Baja?' Steve asks.

'Baja was awesome and I had the time of my life while I was there,' he looks over at Brenda and winks at her.

'Well, welcome back to you too buddy,' Brandon says as he gives Dylan a quick hug, 'What great timing!'

'David, what brings you around?' Steve asks.

'Oh, I heard that there was going to be a party, so I thought I come over and see what was going on,' he says.

Donna looks up from the table at the sound of David's voice. She stares at him without making a sound. Brenda walks over and puts her hand on Donna's shoulder. Brenda whispers, 'Donna, you are strong. You can do this. Don't let him intimidate you.'

'Right, right,' Donna says nodding her head.

'Hi Donna,' David says.

'Hi David,' Donna says and walks toward the food setup.

Brenda walks over to where Brandon and Dylan are talking to each other.

'Hey Bren, how was London?' Dylan asks.

'It was great, Dylan. Thanks for asking. I'm so glad I went,' she says with a smile on her face.

'Well, that's great. I'm glad that worked out so well for you,' he says smiling back at her.

Brandon looks from Dylan to Brenda and back to Dylan noticing a little underlying exchange going on, he claps Dylan on the back and says, 'What's going on here?'

Brenda looks at Brandon trying to contain her laughter and can't. She laughs out loud and finally says, 'Come on Brandon, we're just messing with you.'

'Oh, ha ha, very funny,' he says and walks away.

'Bren, you are going to have to stop looking at me like that, or I am not going to make it through this,' Dylan whispers to her.

She smiles seductively at him and walks away to join Donna at the food table.

Kelly walks up and gives Donna and Brenda a hug.

'I'm glad you guys are back! I mean,' Kelly looks over to the other side of the room where Andrea is, 'I love Andrea and everything, but I really missed you guys!'

'Aw, Kel, we're glad we can save you from hanging out too much with Andrea,' Donna says with a smile.

'Don, are you okay with David being here?' Kelly asks with concern.

'You know, Kel, I learned a lot on my trip to London with Brenda. I met some great people who know how to let go and have a good time. They taught me something. They taught me that the more I sulk and think about how much David hurt me, the more miserable I will be. So, I decided, I'm not going to be miserable any more. I am totally okay with him being here, so long as I don't have to talk to him for any length of time. I'm just not ready for that.'

'Wow, Don, you really have gained some perspective,' Kelly says.

'Well,' Donna puts her arm around Brenda, 'I could not have done it without help.'

Brenda smiles and notices the uncomfortable look on Kelly's face. She quickly says,

'Well, girls, let's go eat! I'm starving!'

Kelly walks over to where Dylan is sitting and sits down. 'Dylan,' she starts, 'I need to talk to you.'

'Sure, Kel, what's on your mind?' he says.

'Um, I would prefer to do it alone and not in front of everyone we know,' she says.

Dylan looks at her. She seems genuinely concerned about something, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

'Okay,' he starts.

'How about you meet me out back in like 5 minutes? It's really important.'

'Um, yeah, okay,' he says, a little uncomfortable as he looks over at Brenda. _'Wow, the first test. I didn't think it would come this fast. Maybe she wants to ask me something about Brandon. God, I hope that's it.'_

After a while, Dylan makes his way out the back door of the Pit. Kelly is standing there leaning against Brandon's car.

'What's up, Kel?' he says.

'Dylan, I've been thinking a lot over the past couple of days and I've come to a realization.'

He looks at her intensely trying to figure out what she's about to say.

'I need some closure. We were putting up the decorations for this party to welcome back Brenda and Donna from Europe and I started to feel this overwhelming sense of déjà vu. I still can't get it out of my head the fact that you cheated on her with me and then I went and did the same thing to you. I feel horrible and I'm not sure I've made the right choices.'

Dylan looks at her, 'Well, what do you want from me? We can't change the past. What we did to her was wrong and what you guys did to me was wrong, but I can honestly say that we probably did it because we were too immature to deal with the situations presented to us at the time.'

'Yeah, I guess you're right about part of that. I mean, I feel that you and I really didn't get a chance to really deal with breaking up. We just kind of drifted off into nothingness. I never intended for that to happen, but I guess I really care about doing this the right way, even if it is after the fact.'

'Kel, there is no right way to do this. I've moved on. I'm not hurt or betrayed or lingering on the fact that you decided to jumpstart your relationship with Brandon before you ended it with me.'

'You're not? You don't feel anything?' Kelly asks him.

'Kel, I really don't. I've moved past it. I've dealt with it already and that's all the closure I need. No regrets. It's time to grow up.'

He walks back into the Pit leaving her in the parking lot.

Kelly stands against Brandon's car a little stunned at Dylan's words. _'I don't understand. He didn't even flinch. Maybe he didn't feel as bad as I did. How can that be possible? He's hiding something and I'm going to find out what it is. What did he mean by it's time to grow up?'_

Kelly walks back into the Pit a few minutes later. Brandon immediately walks over and puts his hand on her shoulder.

She looks at him, slightly dejected, and walks over to a table to eat.


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's Note: Okay, here's another chapter for you. Just couldn't stop writing!!_

_  
The Time of Our Lives__ - Chapter 7 – Brenda and Brandon talk about Kelly and Dylan gets a late night phone call_

After about an hour or two, Brenda looks over at Donna, who is trying as hard as she can to pay attention to what Steve and Andrea are saying.

'Donna,' Brenda says as Donna slowly turns her head to where she heard Brenda's voice, 'Snap out of it, girl. It's time to go home and get you in bed. You are fading fast.'

'Now that's the best idea I have heard in a long time. I need to go back to your house and get my stuff.'

Brenda laughs and turns around to address the gang. 'Okay, folks, I think we need to get Ms. Martin home, so we're going to take off. Thank you so much for the party and we will definitely see you guys at the beach tomorrow!' Brenda says as she and Donna walk out of the Pit.

'Okay, Mom, take us home so that we can get Donna to her bed!'

Donna gets her bags from the foyer of the Walsh house and Jim offers to drive her back to her house. Brenda puts her hand on her mother's shoulder and says, 'Well, Mom, I'm so glad to be home, but I am going to crash. I can barely keep my eyes open!'

'Okay, honey. Have a good rest and welcome home!'

Brenda goes up to her room and flops down on her bed. She falls fast asleep and doesn't realize where she is or what is going on when she feels someone shaking her awake.

'Bren?'

'Mmmmm,' Brenda stirs, 'who's there?'

'It's Brandon. I need to talk to you. It's really important.'

'Brandon, what time is it?

'It's almost two-thirty in the morning. Please, Bren, you've been sleeping for like 8 hours.'

'Okay, okay, I'm up,' Brenda rubs her eyes and sits up in her bed. 'What's going on Brandon?'

'It's about Kelly. I think she's still hung up on Dylan. I don't know what to do.'

'Well, what makes you say that?'

'She and I talked about how guilty she feels about the way we got together. She started to feel a little uncomfortable and decided that she needed some kind of closure with Dylan before we could really make a go of this relationship. I supported her and thought that maybe she was feeling overly guilty and regretting the way in which her and Dylan got together in the first place and really needed some closure on that,' Brandon says.

'So, did she talk to him?' Brenda asks.

'Yeah, she talked to him tonight at the Pit, but she didn't look good when she came back inside. I'm not sure what the hell is going on. She wouldn't talk to me after you guys left. What do I do?'

Brenda's heart breaks a little bit for Brandon. _'Another one hooked on Kelly Taylor.'_

'Brandon, remember that she must be harboring some pretty strong feelings of regret if she still feels uncomfortable being around the two of you. I'm sure she'll figure it out, but just be prepared if she comes back to you and decides that it's too much for her to handle right now.'

'Yeah, I guess I do need to be prepared for that eventuality,' Brandon sighs heavily, 'I can't help but think that she's so scared of being alone that she's just latching on for dear life.'

'I don't think you have to worry about that, Brandon. I know her well and that's just not something she would do. Just make sure that you're honest with her and with yourself and do what you think is right, okay?' Brenda says as she squeezes his shoulder with her hand.

'Yeah, okay,' Brandon smiles at her, 'I am so sorry for waking you up for this.'

Brenda laughs, 'It's okay Brandon, I probably would have woken up in about an hour anyway.'

Brandon leaves his sister's room and goes back to his own. He lies down on his bed, takes a deep breath, and tries to go to sleep.

Brenda, who is now wide awake, picks up her phone and dials a familiar number.

'I was hoping you were awake too,' Dylan says as he picks up the phone.

'Hey, how did you know it was me?' Brenda asks.

'No one calls me at this hour and the only person I could think of that would have as much jet lag as me was you,' he says.

'Yeah, well, I didn't wake up on my own. Someone woke me up to have a heart to heart about Kelly.'

'Really, he did? That's unlike him, isn't it?'

'Yeah, but apparently, setting up for the party brought back some ugly feelings for Kelly and she didn't know what to do with them.'

'Yeah, she pulled me outside to get some closure on our relationship, but I told her that I didn't need closure. I had already dealt with the fact that she cheated on me with Brandon and that I have already moved on to bigger and brighter things,' he says.

'Well, that's great, but I think he's worried that she won't be able to shake this and that he's going to get the raw end of the deal,' Brenda says with concern for her brother.

'All you can do is stand by him, support him when he needs it, and get out of the way if something horrible goes down.'

'Yeah, I guess. So,' Brenda says seductively, 'what are you doing?'

'With a tone like that shouldn't you be asking me what I'm wearing?' he says with a laugh.

She laughs back at him as he says, 'Why don't you come over here and find out what I'm doing?'

'Dylan, it's two-thirty in the morning.'

'All the more reason to do it. Everyone knows you are on this crazy time schedule, they won't suspect anything, at least not tonight, or maybe even tomorrow.'

'You are bad, Mr. McKay, very, very bad,' she says.

'I know, but you love me for it,' he says.

'Right, well, then I guess I have no choice. Come and get me. I will meet you on the other side of the block,' she says.

'On my way,' he says quickly and hangs up before she can change her mind. Brenda laughs at the dial tone she is now hearing and puts the receiver down.

She carefully gets out of bed and puts on her shoes and a sweatshirt over her pajama top. She grabs her house key and carefully opens the door to her room. She closes the door without a sound and walks down to the kitchen. She carefully unlocks and opens the back door and locks it again with her key. She walks down the driveway and around the corner to wait for Dylan to come and get her.

'_Tomorrow is Monday, so Dad will be getting up for work around 5:15am, so I have to be back by then, have to be back before then. Oh, God, I can't wait for Dylan to get here. I have missed him so much.'_

Dylan pulls up to the curb and Brenda jumps into the car. She immediately leans over and grabs his face and begins to kiss him passionately. He wraps one arm around her and pulls her closer to him.

'Mmm, Bren,' Dylan says, licking his lips, 'I can't drive when you're doing that.'

'Well, you better learn how, because I'm not going to stop,' she begins to kiss his cheek and works her way down his neck with little kisses and nibbles. He moans out loud at the touch of her lips to his skin and drives as fast as he can back to his house. She runs her hand up his arm to his chest and brushes his nipple through his shirt and works her hand down to his waist.

'Bren, hold up,' Dylan says pulling his head back, 'you are going to cause me to crash this car if you don't stop.'

She smiles at him and cocks her head to the side to look at him. He parks the car and shuts it off and jumps out of the driver's seat. He goes around to her side, scoops her up over the door and almost runs into his house. She begins to laugh at him as he is trying to get inside as quickly as possible. Dylan decides that the bed is too far away and drops her on the couch as he begins to remove his jacket and his shirt. Brenda looks up at him from where he put her on the couch and begins to smile.

He begins to kiss her ankle and works his way from her lower leg up to her hip bone. Brenda shivers a little bit as he nibbles and kisses his way up her stomach to the middle of her chest and up her neck. It was her turn to moan at the sensations he was leaving on her skin as he grabs her hip with his hand and holds on tight.

'God, I've missed you and it's only been like 12 hours,' Dylan says into her ear.

'Mmmmm, don't stop,' Brenda urges.

Unlike all of the other times they were in this position, this time they took it slow. They undressed each other slowly, one button at a time, all the while trying to keep their mouths on each other's bodies at all times. They made love slowly and passionately on the couch in Dylan's living room and afterward held onto each other to keep from shaking.

Dylan looks down at Brenda and wipes the bead of sweat that had formed on her forehead.

'Brenda, I love you so much,' he whispers to her and kisses her on the top of her head.

'I love you,' she replies and pulls him closer to her.

After several minutes of silence Brenda says, 'Dylan, was it just me or did you feel something totally different this time than all of the other times we've had sex?

'No, it's not just you, this time was different, special, filled with love and longing,' he says.

'Mmmmm,' she says. Brenda holds onto him for a little while longer. 'Okay, it's been long enough, and as much as I would love to stay here all night and all day, I need to get back home before they realize that I'm gone,' she says.

'Yeah, alright, how about a shower first, you are covered in sweat and you smell like sex,' he says while he puts his nose in the crook of her neck.

'Dylan! Stop that. I like the smell of sex. I want to keep it.'

Dylan pulls back a little to look at her, 'Bren, you know that you are not the only one who knows what that smells like, right?'

'Yes I do and I don't care.'

He smiles down at her, raises his eyebrows a little bit and kisses her on the nose. 'Okay, well, let's get up, get dressed, and then I'll take you home.'

Brenda and Dylan get dressed and he drives her back to her house. She opens the back door with her key and creeps into the kitchen. She looks at the clock on the wall in the kitchen and registers that it reads four-thirty.

She makes her way back up to her room and closes the door carefully. She climbs back into bed, takes off her sweatshirt and hugs it close to her. _'God, it smells like him.'_


	8. Chapter 8

_The Time of Our Lives__ – Chapter 8 – The gang hangs at the beach and Brandon learns a secret_

_The Beach Club_

'Come on, Bren, we're going to miss the best spot on the beach,' Donna says as they make their way down closer to the water.

'Okay, Donna, it's not like the sun is going to disappear or anything,' Brenda says trying to keep up with her.

'Well,' Donna says as she starts setting up her chair and laying out her towel, 'we only have about two weeks of lounging around before school starts again and I don't want to waste one bit of time!'

Brenda laughs at her and starts to set up her own chair.

'So,' Donna starts and then looks around before continuing, 'how are things with you-know-who?'

Brenda smiles at Donna as she tries to be discreet. 'Things are going surprising well, actually, and I think that it's because nobody but you, me, and you-know-who knows about it. How long do you really think that's going to last?'

'Bren, there is no way you guys can keep that going for much longer. I mean, just the way you look at each other is going to set off some rumors,' Donna says.

'Yeah, I know. I just don't want to jinx it. We've been through enough. It's time this relationship became normal and easy for a change,' Brenda laughs and Donna joins her.

'Well, let's just soak up some sun and not think about it for a while, okay?' Donna says.

Brenda nods as she puts sunscreen all over herself and then hands it off to Donna. She remembers all too well what happened last time she let herself lie in the sun.

Dylan arrives at the beach club with his surfboard and makes his way over to the locker area to get changed. As he is about to enter the locker room he hears someone calling his name and turns around.

'Hi Dylan,' Kelly says.

'Hi Kel, what's up?'

'Um, not much, I was just wondering if you had a few minutes to talk to me?' she asks hopefully.

'Yeah, sure, what is it?'

'I just wanted to apologize for dropping all of that stuff on you at the party. I guess I was just feeling a little overemotional and you got the brunt of it. I'm sorry,' she says looking up at him hoping that he wouldn't see through her lie.

'Oh, yeah, no problem, I hope you've found some way to get over it. I'm sure Brandon will help with that no doubt,' he says and winks at her.

'I think you should leave Brandon out of this. It's not like this has anything to do with him. It's about you and me Dylan, not him,' she gets immediately angry and defensive.

She turns on her heel and walks away from him, leaving him slightly bewildered at the door to the locker room. _'What the hell got into her?'_

Kelly stomps away from Dylan and goes back to her car to get her beach bag. She had seen him walking to the locker room and had run from her car to catch him before he went in. _'I can't believe he would bring up Brandon when we were talking about us. What the hell is wrong with him?'_

Kelly makes her way over to where Brenda and Donna are lounging on the beach.

'Hey girls,' Kelly says and slumps down on the blanket in front of them.

Both girls open their eyes to see a slightly depressed Kelly.

'Kel, are you okay? What's wrong?' Donna asks.

'Oh, nothing, I'm just having one of those mornings, you know?' Kelly says and produces a weak smile.

'Well, no worries, okay, just lay back and enjoy the sun. Here's the sunscreen, you are going to need it,' Donna says.

'Thanks, Don, but I think I'm going to set up the umbrella and stay out of the sun for a bit.'

'Need help, Kel?' Brenda says. Kelly nods and Brenda gets up to help her put the umbrella in the ground. They finally get it set up and position Kelly's chair underneath it so that she is in total shade.

'Thanks, Bren. Now, I think I'll catch up on my reading,' Kelly says as she pulls out a trashy romance novel with half naked people on the cover.

'Kelly, how can you read that crap, seriously?' Brenda says with a laugh.

'Yeah, Kelly how could you read that crap?' Steve says as he walks up with Dylan in tow.

'Ladies, you are all looking great today,' Dylan says as he captures Brenda's eye.

'Thanks, Dylan,' Donna says emphasizing his name so that he will break his obvious gaze on Brenda. He finally looks at her and she gives him a pointed look.

He nods at his acknowledgment of her look and makes his way down to the water.

Kelly missed the initial look Dylan had given Brenda, but catches the look he gave to Donna. _'Why is he looking at Donna like that? Is he just going to bounce between all of us now, Christ, doesn't he ever get tired of it?'_

'So, what's going on in the land of half naked men and women this week, Kel?' Steve asks trying to take the book from Kelly's hands.

'Steve, knock it off,' she says as she tries to fend him off. She eventually begins to laugh and he gives her a big smile.

'Now, that's what I've been waiting for, Kel. I haven't heard you laugh in a long time.'

'Well, I'm going to go in the water to cool off for a bit, I'll be right back,' Brenda says.

She puts her hair on top of her head with a clip in order to keep it as dry as possible. She walks down to the water where Dylan is floating on his board.

He looks behind her for a second to make sure that no one followed her down.

'Hey there gorgeous,' he says smiling at her.

She smiles back at him as she dips herself into the water, 'Hey, yourself.'

'You know, I just want to come over there and put my arms around you and stand here in the sun just soaking it all up,' he says.

'Yeah, me too. Dylan, how long do you think we can keep this a secret? Donna has already warned me about the way we look at each other in public. She says it's really obvious,' Brenda says.

Dylan begins to laugh. 'Yeah, well, it is really obvious that we are in love and that discovering our love all over again is something that cannot be contained.'

Brenda smiles again. Brenda looks behind her back up to where Donna, Kelly, and Steve are sitting. At this point, Brandon and Andrea have joined them. No one is paying attention to Brenda or Dylan down by the water.

'Well, Dylan, I don't think I can take this for much longer. As much as I want to keep us a secret, I feel like we're sneaking around when we really don't have to,' Brenda says.

'You are right. I do think though, that we need to at least talk to your parents first, you know, just so that they know that we really thought this out and aren't just messing around.'

'How thoughtful of you, I didn't even think about that. How about dinner? I think Brandon has a date, so it'll just be us.'

'Sounds good, I can't wait,' he smiles at her. He looks up at the beach where everyone seems to be preoccupied with Steve and Brandon horsing around and wrestling each other to the ground. Brenda turns around too to see if anyone is looking at them. When she turns her head back around, Dylan is in front of her. He grabs her head and kisses her briefly right there on the beach.

'Mmmm, that was dangerous,' she says.

'Not as dangerous as what we could be doing,' Dylan says and raises his eyebrows

'What did you have in mind?' she says seductively. Dylan shoots his eyes up the beach and steps back a little as he sees Brandon, Steve, Andrea and Kelly coming toward them.

Brenda nods at Dylan as she hears 'Hey guys,' Brandon says as he walks up behind Brenda.

'Hey Brandon,' Brenda says, 'what the hell were you guys doing up there?'

'Just messing around,' Steve says as he puts Brandon in a head lock. He drags Brandon into the ocean and dunks him with a wrestling move.

Brandon comes up for air at the same time taking Steve's legs out from underneath him, which makes him hit the water with a very big splash.

'Well, I'm going to take off and find some waves. See you guys later,' Dylan says as he begins to walk away.

'Bye Dylan, good luck!' Kelly shouts after him. He looks back at Kelly with a puzzled expression on his face and she flashes him a smile. Dylan continues to walk shaking his head.

Brenda turns to walk back up to the blanket. 'Oh, no,' she says.

'What?' Kelly says.

'Come on, we have to get back up there,' Brenda says and quickens her pace.

Kelly turns and sees that Donna is alone up on the beach and David has found his way over to her and is attempting to get her to talk to him. Kelly and Andrea quickly follow Brenda back up to the blanket.

'Hi David,' Brenda says, almost out of breath. Donna gives her a look and Brenda tries to apologize with her eyes.

'Hi Brenda,' David says with his eyes focused on the sand in front of her feet.

'What brings you down here?' Kelly says, 'I thought you had a meeting at the radio station?'

'Yeah, I did, I just wanted to talk to Donna,' David says.

'Well, it was nice talking to you David, but I think you better go now,' Donna puts her sunglasses back on and lays her chair back further.

'Yeah, I guess so,' David gets up dejected and begins to walk away with his head down.

'Donna, are you alright, honey? I'm so sorry that I didn't see him sooner,' Brenda says.

'It's okay, Bren. I was actually doing pretty well on my own. Thanks for coming to my rescue though!' Donna says with a smile.

'No problem. Now, let's get some much needed sun, huh?' Brenda says.

_Casa Walsh_

Brenda knocks on Brandon's half of the bathroom door and hears him yell for her to come in.

'Brandon?' she says and stops to admire her brother's very nice clothes, 'Wow, you look great!'

'Yeah, you think so? I want to make this really special for Kelly. She's been in a kind of funk for the last couple of days and I want to make sure she has a good time,' he says.

'Well, you look fabulous and I'm sure Kelly will have a great time with you tonight,' Brenda pauses and looks up at her brother, 'Look, I wanted to tell you first,' she starts to say.

'Bren, are you in trouble? What's wrong? Man, I hate when you start sentences like that.'

'No, no, it's nothing like that. Listen, while I was in London, Donna wasn't the only one of our friends who came to visit me,' she pauses.

Brandon furrows his brow trying to think of who else was missing while Brenda was gone. _'What is she talking about, everyone was here…. I was hanging out with all of them the entire time she was gone. _He pauses for a minute in thought. Brenda sees him trying to work it out in his head. She rolls her eyes and patiently waits for him to figure it out. '_Everyone was here except…. Oh, God…'_

'Brenda, are you kidding me?' he says loudly then quickly lowers his voice, 'It was Dylan, wasn't it?'

Brenda laughs at her brother's brilliant sense of deduction. 'No, it was the Dalai Lama. Yes, Brandon, of course it was Dylan. Listen, we've been through a lot together and we've both grown up at least a little bit. I'll explain how it all came about another time, I just need you to know that we are, um, trying again to make something work,' she winces a little at saying it out loud for the first time to someone other than Dylan. She searches Brandon's face for some kind of approval or disapproval, but doesn't find either.

Brandon stares at her for a good 15 seconds without moving. 'You are trying again to make something work between you? I'm sure that there is a lot to this story that I don't know yet, but Bren, please, for your own sake, please, go into this with a clear head. I don't think you or I could take another breakup between you and Dylan,' he says, and then smiles at her.

She smiles back at him. 'Trust me, Brandon, this time I have my eyes completely open.'

'Bren, why are you telling me this now? Isn't this kind of out of the blue? Wait, is something about to happen that I need to know about?' he says as he watches her face. The expression on her face confirms that she has something else to tell him. 'Damn it, Brenda, why do you always wait until the last minute to tell me these things?'

'Brandon, I'm sorry, we just didn't want to shock anyone, which is why Dylan is coming over here tonight to have dinner with us. We are going to have a mature, adult conversation with Mom and Dad.'

'Oh, man, Brenda, seriously? Have you guys really thought this through? Maybe it would be better if they caught you kissing or something. I can't believe you're going to come right out and tell them about this.'

'Well, Dylan and I talked about it and decided that this would be a better way of handling it.'

'Well, there's that maturity coming out again,' Brandon smiles at her. 'Look, I'm going to pick up Kelly. I guess, I'll know what the outcome of this evening was by looking at the carnage, or lack there of, when I return.'

He kisses her on the head and says, 'Good luck, Bren. I'm happy for you. I don't think I've seen you this happy in a long time, and here I was thinking it had something to do with Europe.' He walks out of the room and leaves the house.

Brandon walks toward his car as he sees Dylan's car pull up and park against the curb. Brandon walks down to the end of the driveway to meet up with Dylan.

'Hey, man,' Brandon says.

'Oh, hey, don't you have a date or something?' Dylan says nervously. _'What if he asks why I'm here? What am I going to say?'_ Brandon could see the thoughts swirling around in Dylan's head as he stood there awkwardly.

'Dylan, no sweat man, Brenda told me about you guys.'

Dylan lets the breath out that he had been holding.

'I just wanted to say good luck in there. I'm rooting for you guys. Now, I'm going to take off and go get Kelly before World War Three starts.'

'Thanks, man. Listen, how is Kelly anyway? She was kind of acting weird today around me. Is she alright?' Dylan asks with concern.

'She's been a little irritable lately, but I think everything's okay. Dylan, look, I'm sorry that I never came to talk to you about getting together with Kelly. It was really stupid of me and I really am sorry,' Brandon says.

'No worries, Brandon. I did the same thing to you with your sister if you recall, although you weren't dating her at the time,' Dylan says and then they both make a disgusted face at each other. 'Wow, that didn't come out right. I'm just going to leave that alone.'

'I think Kelly may have some residual feelings of regret though and I'm not sure how to handle that. How did you deal with your feelings for her after you guys broke up, if you don't mind me asking?' Brandon says.

'Look Brandon, Kelly and I were just going through the motions. I didn't need some closure or time to 'deal with my feelings'. There wasn't much there to deal with to start. As much as I'd love to sit here and chat, I've got a date, and I think you do too,' Dylan says as he pats Brandon on the shoulder and makes his way up to the front door.

Brandon watches him walk up to the house. He gets in his car and makes his way over to Kelly's house. _'Wow, he just kind of brushed off their entire relationship like it didn't mean a thing. I'm not sure how to take that.'_


	9. Chapter 9

_The Time of Our __Lives – Chapter 9 - Brenda and Dylan tell her parents and Brandon gets a rude awakening_

Dylan walks up and knocks on the front door. He waits a few seconds and hears some footsteps. Brenda opens the door and smiles at him.

'Hey,' she says as she kisses him, 'come on in.'

He steps into the house and she takes his hand and leads him into the kitchen.

Cindy is cutting up vegetables for the salad and without looking up says, 'Brenda? Is your dinner guest here?'

'Yes, Mom, he's right here,' Brenda says. Her heart was pounding so fast that she thought that it would beat right out of her chest. She feels Dylan grip her hand a little tighter as her mother looks up from the salad.

Cindy stands frozen for a few seconds at the sight of Dylan standing in her kitchen holding her daughter's hand. She smiles brightly as she connects the dots in her head and says, 'Dylan!' She walks over to him and gives him a hug.

'Hi Mrs. Walsh, how are you?' Dylan says nervously.

'Oh, I'm fine, Dylan, just fine. How are you? Brenda, why didn't you tell us it was Dylan? Christ, you got me all worked up,' Cindy says.

Brenda smiles, 'Well, Mom, I wasn't quite sure how you were going to take it, so we figured the surprise approach was a little easier. And besides, we really want to talk to you and Dad about this and make sure that you know what we went through to get to this point,' she explains.

'Well, I am all ears and I'm sure your father will be too. Jim!' Cindy yells.

'Be right down!' they hear from up the stairs.

'How's Suzanne, Dylan? Any progress with her making amends?' Cindy says.

'Um, not yet, but I actually haven't been around all that much this summer, so I'm sure things will pick up now that I'm back,' Dylan says quickly.

'Dylan?' Jim says as he comes into the kitchen.

'Jim, how are you?' he says.

'I'm fine, what's going on? Do you need anything?'

Brenda smiles at her father. 'Dad, it's not business, Dylan is here for dinner,' she says.

Jim looks at her as she walks over to Dylan and grabs his hand to show her father what she means.

'Huh?' Jim pauses as he tries to figure out what Brenda is trying to tell him, 'Oh, okay, I get it. Dylan is the special dinner guest and this is your way of telling us that you two have gotten back together, right?'

'Welcome to the land of the living, Jim,' Cindy says with a smile and then a laugh.

Brenda laughs at her father. 'Can't put anything past you, can I Dad?' she says, 'Look, we want to do this right. We want to talk to you guys about how this came about and all of the things that we've talked about with each other. It's really important to me, to us.' She looks at her father and then at Dylan.

'Okay, well let's eat and talk,' Jim says.

Brandon and Kelly sit in the car outside of her house. 'Brandon, I had a lovely time with you tonight. That restaurant was amazing!' Kelly says.

'Yeah, I thought so too, we'll have to go back there sometime,' he says.

'Definitely, I really like being with you Brandon,' Kelly feels a lurch in her chest as she says, 'I just don't know what is going on right now.'

'Kel, is this the closure/regret thing with Dylan? I talked to Dylan because I was feeling a little regretful myself and he didn't seem like he needed closure. He wasn't even mad and didn't really say anything when I told him that I was sorry for hooking up with you while you were still with him.'

'Really, he didn't? Don't you think that's a little weird, Brandon? I mean, everyone said that he was pissed off when he found out that we had been kissing. How does he just drop it like nothing ever happened? Like my relationship with him didn't exist, so why would he need closure?'

Brandon begins to think about what Kelly said. He shakes his head trying to figure it out, but comes up with nothing.

'I'm not sure, Kel.'

'Maybe he's drinking again, that would explain the distant look in his eye and the fact that he can't seem to focus on one thing and that every time I talk to him he seems distracted,' she says.

'_Distracted? What would be distracting Dylan?'_ Brandon opens his mouth a little to say something and realizes that Kelly doesn't know about Brenda and Dylan getting back together. _'Of course he's been distracted and not caring about his relationship with Kelly. He's not drinking, he's in love and preoccupied with Brenda to even care about anything else.'_

'Brandon, what are you thinking?' Kelly asks.

'Oh, it's nothing, I was trying to remember if I saw any bottles while I was over at Dylan's the other day, but I didn't. He doesn't smell like stale liquor either, so I'm going to guess that he's not drinking again. Anyway, let's stop talking about him, okay?' Brandon says quickly, trying to change the subject.

'Okay,' Kelly says with attitude toward Brandon, 'I was just trying to make conversation. Look, I'm going to go in now. Goodnight, Brandon,' Kelly snips at him. She huffs her way out of the car and to her front door. She hears him yell her name but goes in and closes the door behind her without turning around.

'Damn it,' Brandon says. _'Wow, she turned quick on me. I hope she's not taking those stupid diet pills again.'_

_Casa Walsh_

Brandon walks into the house and hears laughter coming from the dining room. _'Geez are they still in there? Well, at least they're laughing, right?'_

He walks into the dining room and sees his parents and Brenda and Dylan playing a card game. They are all laughing at each other when he comes in.

'Hey, guys, what the hell is going on?' he says.

'Hi, Brandon,' Brenda says between laughs.

'Well, either you haven't told them yet, or you told them a lie and got them to believe it,' Brandon says, knowing that his parents must have been somewhat accepting of Brenda and Dylan for them to be sitting here calmly playing a card game.

'Very funny, Brandon,' Cindy says, 'why don't you join us, we're not that far along?'

'Oh, no, I'm good. I'd rather not stimulate my brain cells too much until school starts. Goodnight,' he says as he makes his way up the stairs.

Brenda smiles at him as he leaves the room to go upstairs. They finish playing the game with Jim winning, as he always does.

'Well, looks like I'm going to take my winnings and head on up to bed. Goodnight you two,' Jim says. As Brenda hugs her mother goodnight, Jim winks at Dylan and nods his head in approval.

'Goodnight, Dad,' Brenda says.

'Goodnight, sweetheart,' he says. Cindy leads him up the stairs as Brenda begins to clean up the cards and put them back in order.

'Well, Bren, that has got to be the weirdest night with your parents in the history of our relationship,' Dylan says as he helps her gather the cards from across the table.

'Yeah, I agree. I don't understand. They didn't really even flinch when we told them that we were going to try again. It's like they expected it to happen. Maybe they're psychic or something,' she says.

'Or maybe,' he says as he comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist, 'they know that we were meant to be together and just needed to grow up a little.' He kisses her neck as she leans her head against his shoulder.

She turns her head up to his and he kisses her slowly and tightens his grip around her waist. She reaches her hand up to caress the side of his face as he begins to move his hand down her hip.

'Okay, you two, that's enough of that right here in the dining room,' Brandon says loudly, as Brenda and Dylan break apart slowly.

'Sorry, Brandon,' Brenda says as her face gets a little red and she moves to finish gathering the cards. Brandon gives her an 'oh-great-this-is-what-I-have-to-look-forward-to-AGAIN' face and continues to walk through into the kitchen.

Dylan follows Brandon into the kitchen. 'Hey, you alright, man?' he says.

Brandon opens the refrigerator and looks back at Dylan. 'Yeah, I'm alright,' he says.

'That is not very convincing,' Dylan observes.

'I just, well, Kelly and I had a great time tonight until I went to drop her off at her house,' Brandon starts.

Dylan sits on the stool at the counter to listen.

Brandon continues, 'Well, we get there and she starts talking about how uncomfortable she is with this feeling of regret still and then she tells me how she thinks that because you're not responding to her and seem distracted every time she talks to you, that you're drinking again.'

Dylan screws up his face a little with confusion, 'Drinking? Where on Earth would she get that idea?'

'Well, I couldn't figure that part out either, until I remember something I had learned earlier in the evening,' he says as he nods his head and looks toward the dining room, where Brenda is separating out the cards into decks. Dylan follows his gaze to Brenda and then looks back at Brandon. Brandon sees the light bulb turn on in Dylan's head.

'Yeah, you got it, now. She obviously doesn't know that it's not drinking that is distracting you, it's Brenda,' Brandon says.

Dylan takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. 'Ah, now I see. Well, now that we've told your parents and they strangely approved of our decision pretty quickly, I think Brenda will feel more comfortable letting it slip that we're back together. So, she'll find out soon enough that it's not the drink that's making me crazy,' he says.

'Yeah, well, let's make it sooner rather than later, because it's making me crazy. When I finally figured out what she was missing, I tried to change the subject away from talking about you to something else,' Brandon says.

'Yeah, I would have too,' Dylan agrees.

'Well, she bit my head off and stomped into the house and slammed the door.'

'What? What the hell is that all about?' Dylan asks.

Brandon shakes his head slowly. 'I have no idea, but the quicker she realizes that you and Brenda have moved on, maybe she'll drop this lovely attitude and get over it, because I don't think I can take her flipping out on me like that,' Brandon admits.

'Man, I'm sorry, I had no idea she would not be able to process her feelings for me and move on with you, which is what she really wants. I really thought that she already had gone through this. I really am sorry,' Dylan says.

'It's not your fault man. I brought this on myself sneaking around on you and not shooting straight. Well, I'm going to head upstairs and try to block this night out of my memory,' Brandon says as he puts his hand on Dylan's shoulder and walks out of the kitchen.

Dylan sits at the counter looking at his hands. _'What the hell is wrong with Kelly? Why can't she get over this already? She was the one who moved on first, why the hell should she be even worried about this?'_

He gets up from the stool and joins Brenda in the dining room, where she has just finished separating the cards into decks.

'Hey,' he says, 'so, now that your parents know, when can we plan to break it to everyone else?'

'Oh, anxious are we?' Brenda smiles at him.

'Don't get me wrong, the sneaking around everyone else could be fun and dangerously exciting for both of us,' he says as he grabs her and presses her body into his, and she lets out a little moan as he holds her tight, 'but I do want to be able to wrap my arms around you and do this in public,' he says as he dips her and kisses her passionately before standing her back up.

'Oh,' she says, 'well, then, we should think of a great way to shock everyone at the same time and that way we don't actually have to tell them.'

'Shock them, as in have sex in public places and wait for them have the guts to ask us about it?'

'Dylan!' Brenda says a little embarrassed. 'That is not what I meant!'

He laughs at her. 'Okay, we'll think of something tomorrow, okay? I better go,' he says as he kisses her.

'Goodnight, sweet dreams, sleep well, and I will see you tomorrow,' he says. She smiles up at him as he walks toward the door and leaves.

Brenda smiles all the way up to her room. She sits on her bed and thinks about Dylan. _'I feel so great right now. We told my parents and they didn't freak out on us, we told Brandon and he didn't freak out on us. Dylan is being so great and attentive. We need to do this right. I need to keep my eyes open. I don't want to be blindsided again, ever. I'm a little nervous about telling everyone about us. I wish we could just keep it from them, that way they can't get involved or screw us up.'_ Brenda sighs and gets up to get ready for bed.


	10. Chapter 10

_The Time of Our Lives__ – Chapter 10 - Brenda and Dylan connect to each other and Kelly makes everyone uncomfortable_

_The Beach Club – a few days later_

Donna sits on the beach taking in the sun and waits for Brenda to return from getting them some water. She thinks back to her trip to Paris with the people from RADA and a smile begins to creep across her face. She loved the way she felt when they were around, she loved the way they included her in their conversations and the way they made her feel free to say whatever was on her mind.

'Donna, are you okay, you have a strange look on your face?' Brenda says when she returns.

Donna snaps her head up at Brenda. 'Oh, sorry,' she says, 'I was just thinking about Paris part two,' Donna smiles.

Brenda smiles back at her. 'I am so glad that you had a good time with them. Did Jason and Lily say when they were coming out here?'

'No, I haven't heard from them yet, but they said they would call me as soon as they know. I'm excited. I loved being with them, Bren, I really did,' Donna admits.

'Well, Donna, maybe it's just actors you like to be around. I mean, most of them are like that, albeit some are way more dramatic than others, but you take the good with the bad, right?' Brenda says.

'Right, maybe I should join the crew or something on a show. What do you think?'

'Personally, Don, I think you would make a great costumer and even set dressing. You have a great eye for what looks good on people and what brings a room together.'

'Do you really think so, Bren? I never thought about that,' Donna says as she takes in what Brenda is telling her.

'Well, here's what we're going to do. When I get a job, I am going to tell them about you and I bet you they will want all of the help they can get. It'll be our thing, you and me.'

Donna looks at Brenda's face as she is talking and begins to smile at the possibility of being a part of something like that. 'That would be great! I think I would want to try that!'

'Then it's settled, you and I are going to take the theatres by storm!' Brenda taps Donna's water bottle with her own and they drink.

'First thing tomorrow, we're going to go and see what's going on at the community theatre and ask if we can lend a hand, okay?' Brenda says.

'Okay!'

'What are we so excited about over here?' Kelly says as she walks up to where Donna and Brenda are.

'Hi Kel, Brenda and I were just talking about her actor friends from the program that I met and maybe finding a theatre job for me too. Maybe costumes?' Donna says.

'Costumes, yeah, totally, you'd be great at that,' Kelly says.

'Thanks, Kel, how about you, did you ever think about anything other than acting you'd like to do in the theatre? Maybe we could all do it together!' Donna says.

'Not really, I'm not that technical and I don't particularly enjoy it all that much. I mean it was exciting for all of one week and then I just kind of lost interest,' Kelly explains.

Brenda smiles at her and says, 'Well, we'll keep our eyes out for you too, just in case there's something you would be really great at, okay?' Brenda says.

Kelly smiles and nods her head. She puts her sunglasses on and pulls out her book to start reading.

Brenda turns around and looks back up toward the cabanas, thinking that she heard her name being called. She immediately sees a glimpse of Dylan up at the clubhouse and he beckons her to come over to him. Brenda looks back at Kelly reading her book and Donna bathing in the sun.

'I'm going to go up and get something to eat, okay? I'll be back,' she says as she gets up. Donna nods her head and Kelly says, 'Okay' without looking up from her book.

Brenda makes her way over to where Dylan is sitting. 'Hey there,' he says as he kisses her.

'Hey, I didn't think you were coming until later,' she says.

'Oh, well, then, you want me to go and come back?' he says. She smiles at him and puts her arms around his neck.

'I don't think so,' she says as she kisses him.

'You guys better watch it if you don't want to let the cat out of the bag too soon,' Brandon says as he walks by them. Brenda and Dylan separate as she watches Andrea and Steve join Donna and Kelly on the beach.

'Not too much longer, I promise,' she says.

'Well, let's um, go where prying eyes can't see us, then, huh?' he says as he grabs her hand and leads her into the clubhouse.

'Hey Donna,' Steve says as he puts his towel down and sits next to her on the beach.

'Hey Steve,' she says as she opens her eyes. 'Hi Andrea.'

'So, one more week before the not-as-dreadful-as-being-a-freshman sophomore year begins, we should barbecue or have a sleepover on the beach,' Andrea says.

'Oooh that sounds like fun we should do that. We can get tents and sleeping bags and build a bonfire and just spend the night having fun,' Donna says excitedly.

'Yeah, we can make Smores and play drinking games,' Steve says.

'Maybe the Smores part Steve, but I don't know about the drinking games. It's still a public beach you know, we are underage, and you know for a fact that one of your friends is an alcoholic, so maybe you should just cool it,' Kelly says.

'Wow, Kel, it was just a suggestion. I'm sorry I brought it up, and who says we can't play drinking games with soda?' he says, trying to lighten the mood.

Kelly looks at him, shakes her head and decides that it's not worth it. 'Fine, that's a good plan,' she mutters at him.

'Well, I think it's an excellent idea, Andrea, and I for one will help set it up. We're going to need food and enough sleeping bags for everyone and soda,' Donna says pointedly, 'and maybe some cards or something to keep us busy.'

Andrea, Donna, and Steve begin planning their last hoorah before school starts, while Kelly tries to ignore them by reading her book. Steve decides to see if he can get a volleyball game going and leaves the girls to chat on the beach.

'So, Kelly, how are things going with Brandon?' Donna asks. She sees Andrea fidget a little, but she quickly recovers.

Kelly pulls herself out of her book at the mention of Brandon. She begins to smile at Donna and says, 'Things are going well I think, I mean, he's so nice and attentive and he seems to be so in tune with me. He such a great kisser and the way he makes me feel when we are making out in his car is just indescribable.'

'Kelly! I was with you up until the part when you talk about him kissing you,' Donna says as she recoils a little.

'I'm sorry, Donna, I just meant that I can easily connect with him in that aspect of our relationship. Much easier than I could connect with Dylan, in fact, I don't think we ever connected like this. It just feels so much better to be kissing Brandon and having his arms around me than the guilt and regret I felt when Dylan had his arms around me. It's a totally different experience,' Kelly says flippantly.

'Kelly, do you really think Brandon would appreciate you talking about him like this? I mean, it's not exactly general information you're telling us here,' Andrea says.

'Oh, Andrea, it's fine, I mean, you have to grow up at some point. With Dylan the sex was carnal and not about feelings at all, with Brandon it's nice and sensitive and slow and wonderful and I just feel so much better with him,' she says.

Donna sits on the beach with her mouth slightly open at the ease in which Kelly is dishing personal details about her relationships to her and Andrea. _'God, where the hell is Brenda when I need her? This is ridiculous! Brenda would know exactly what to say in this situation. Damn!'_ Donna begins to look around for Brenda wondering where she could have gone off to.

'Who are you looking for, Donna?' Kelly says with attitude.

'Well, I was looking around to see if Brandon heard any of the personal details you were spouting and went off running for the hills, and I was looking for Brenda. She's been gone awhile and I was just wishing that she was on her way back,' Donna retaliates.

Kelly huffs at her and Donna gets up and makes her way over to clubhouse. As she approaches she sees Brenda coming out of the door.

'Oh my God, Brenda, get over here right now!' Donna says. Brenda looks at the horrified look on Donna's face and almost runs to her.

'What, Donna, what is it? Are you alright? Is David back?' she says quickly.

'No, no, nothing like that. I'm not sure what the hell has gotten into Kelly, but she is acting really strangely. She just told me and Andrea some details about her relationship with Brandon that only he should know. She just said it like it was no big deal and went back to reading her book. There's something not right with her,' Donna says.

Brenda looks at her friend and wrinkles her forehead at the information Donna is giving her. 'Why on Earth would she feel the need to say stuff like that? I mean, what exactly does she get out of that?' Brenda says.

'I'm not sure, but someone has got to shut her up before she starts talking about other things,' Donna says as she shutters and stares off in the direction of Kelly.

'Okay, Donna, I'll go over there and maybe that will shut her up,' Brenda says.

'Great, hey, where the hell were you, by the way? It doesn't take that long to get something to eat,' Donna says.

Brenda smiles and looks back toward the doorway. 'Um,' she starts to say slowly choosing her words carefully, 'something came up that I had to take care of,' she smirks and raises her eyebrows as she makes her way back over to the beach area.

'Ew,' Donna says and follows Brenda.

'Oh, hey Brenda,' Andrea says quickly. 'So, we were just talking about how we're going to have a last farewell to summer sleepover on the beach on Saturday night, what do you think?'

'Farewell to summer party sounds great, Andrea. This has probably been one of the best summers that I have had so far! I have got to say that I have accomplished many things this summer and I feel great,' Brenda says as she sits down in her chair.

'Yeah, you've had quite a busy summer, but let's hope you won't have to leave the country again for a while, okay? It's nice having you here,' Andrea says.

Brenda smiles at her, 'Oh, the plans are to stay here for a little while at least.'

The girls begin to plan their night out on the beach as the afternoon wears on.

'Well, I better get going,' Brenda says as she looks at her watch that is attached to her bag.

'So soon?' Kelly asks.

'Yeah, well, I have to help my Mom with a few things and then I need to work on my resume for auditions. I'm going to try to get a professional job and start getting some experience,' she says.

'Oh, well, good luck,' Kelly says and goes back to her book. Brenda looks at her strangely. _'Donna is right, she is not acting like herself at all.'_

'See you guys,' Brenda says. She makes her way to the parking lot expecting to see Brandon impatiently waiting for her, since his shift ended about 10 minutes ago. She looks around for Brandon and doesn't see him or his car. She sees Dylan pull his car from the parking space and pulls up next to her.

'Your taxi, mademoiselle,' he says, 'Brandon had to take off early and he asked if I would give you a ride home.'

'Oh, did he now? Well then, I guess you can take me home, taxi driver,' she says as she gets into the car.

He smiles at her and takes off.

'So, the gang is planning a 'Say Goodbye to Summer' sleepover on the beach for Saturday night,' Brenda says.

'Oh, really, well that sound like a perfect opportunity for us, doesn't it?' Dylan says.

She smiles at his playful tone and says, 'My thoughts exactly.' She leans over and begins to kiss his neck,

'Now, Brenda, you remember what happened last time you did that while I was driving, right?' Dylan says and begins to breathe heavier.

'Why do you think I'm doing it?' she says into his neck and nibbles his skin a little. She hears the engine rev and Dylan speed the car up quite a bit. She smiles into his skin and continues to kiss him.


	11. Chapter 11

_The Time of Our Lives__ – Chapter 11 – Kelly and Brandon connect and Brenda gets excited about her prospects and Dylan… Again_

_Casa Walsh_

Brenda steps through the door with her beach stuff in hand.

'Brenda, is that you? You're a little later than I thought you would be,' Cindy says.

'Sorry Mom, I got carried away,' she says, 'Let me put this stuff away, take a shower, and change my clothes and then I'll be right down to help you, okay?'

'Okay, honey, just hurry up, okay, we're running out of sunlight!'

Brenda nods and runs up the steps. She's glad her mother did not step close enough to realize that she no longer smelled like the beach.

Brenda quickly showers and changes her clothes. She runs down the stairs and goes out into the backyard to help her mother with the garden.

'Okay, now just plant the tomatoes about 4 to 6 inches apart here in this row, okay?' Cindy says.

'Got it,' Brenda says as she takes the plant from her mother's hand.

'Mom, after I'm done polishing up my resume, will you look at it and tell me if it's okay?' Brenda asks as she begins to plant.

'Sure, honey, are there a lot of auditions going on right now?'

'Yeah, a bunch of the local theatres are auditioning for their fall and winter programs, so I have a good chance of getting one of them since I met the producer while I was in London,' she says.

'That's great, honey, but what about school?' Cindy says, concerned.

'Mom, from what Donna and I saw when we visited a few theatres yesterday, most of the rehearsals are in the evenings, since a lot of the other people involved have jobs during the day. I will most likely be able to go to class during the day and rehearse at night,' she says.

'Oh, well, that's great,' Cindy says.

Brenda and Cindy finish planting the garden and Brenda cleans herself up and then goes up to her room to work on her resume.

Brenda sits at her desk working on her resume Brandon comes from the bathroom into her room.

'So, the gang's planning a night on the beach, huh?' he says.

She looks up at him, nods, and says, 'Uh huh, on Saturday.'

'Have you told Mom and Dad yet?' he asks. She shakes her head 'no' as he sits on her bed.

'Well, if you want, I'll bring it up to them,' he says.

'Yeah, okay, that would be great. Have you talked to Kelly? Is she feeling any better?' she asks with concern.

'I don't know, Bren. I didn't get to see her today, but I'm not sure how much time I should give her to calm down about this whole closure situation,' he says as he rubs his head.

'Brandon, I think you need to call her. I'm sure that maybe she just had her emotions on the surface and didn't realize that she was overreacting,' she says.

'Yeah, maybe you're right. I guess I'll give her a call. You want to go down to the Pit tonight? I think Steve said something about meeting up to talk about our night out on the beach.'

'Sure, I'll go with you. Why don't you call Kelly and I'll call Donna and Dylan and we'll see if we can get the whole group together, you know, just like old times?'

He smiles at her and nods his head 'yes'. 'Why don't you go first and let me know when you're through?' he says.

'Okay, Brandon,' she says, sensing that he was still a little apprehensive about calling Kelly.

She picks up the phone and dials Dylan's number as Brandon makes his way back to his room. He stops in the bathroom to splash some water on his face. He looks up and stares at his reflection for a while.

'Okay, we'll meet you there in like a half hour,' he hears Brenda saying to Dylan. She hangs up and dials the phone again.

'Hi Donna,' she says. He tries to focus on his reflection and figure out exactly what he is going to say to Kelly when he calls her.

'No, he definitely didn't hear about it yet. No way, it's not going to be me, I wasn't even there while she was talking, so I'm not even sure what she said. Well, that's up to her. I'll make that decision when the situation arises, but I'm not saying anything until I hear it directly from her. Okay, Don, look I have to get off here, but we'll be at the Pit in a half hour to talk about Saturday. Okay, see you then,' Brenda says.

Brandon turns his head slowly toward Brenda's slightly ajar bathroom door as she is talking with Donna. He stares at the door with a puzzled look on his face. _'I wonder who she's talking about.'_

'Brandon,' she begins to yell as she enters the bathroom to go into his room. She stops short as he is standing at the sink staring into the mirror. 'You can call Kelly now, okay? I'm going to get ready.'

'Okay,' he says. He grabs the phone from her hand without looking directly at her. He begins to dial Kelly's number as he walks back into his room and shuts the door.

'Hello?'

'Hey, Kelly, it's Brandon,' he says.

'Hi Brandon,' she says with a smile as her tone immediately lightens.

'Hey, the gang is meeting down at the Pit to talk about Saturday night and I wanted to know if you were going to be there?' he says apprehensively.

'Oh, yeah, sure, I'll go down there. I actually haven't eaten yet, so that will be perfect,' she says.

'Great, okay, well, I'll see you there in a little while,' he says.

'Okay,' she says and hangs up the phone. She changes her clothes and makes her way to the Pit to meet up with everyone.

Brandon goes downstairs to talk to his parents about spending the night on the beach. Surprisingly, they don't put up much of a fight with him. They make him promise that they will stay together and leave the exact location of where they will be at the house, just in case and then they go back to watching television.

Brandon shakes his head a little bit, confused at his parents reaction, but is grateful that they are finally letting them go and be on their own.

_The Peach Pit_

Kelly walks through the door and sees the Steve, Andrea, and Donna sitting in the corner and moves to join them.

'Hi guys,' she says.

'Hey, Kelly, how are you doing?' Steve asks her.

'Fine, I'm hungry, but other than that, I'm good,' she says contently. She looks over at Andrea who is staring at her with a strange look on her face. Andrea immediately shifts her eyes to something else when Kelly looks at her.

Dylan walks through the door and goes right to the counter. Nat immediately pours him a cup of coffee and hands it to him.

'Thanks, Nat, always a pleasure,' he says. Dylan walks over to where the gang is sitting and takes the empty seat next to Andrea. Kelly pouts a little before hearing the doorbell chime and sees Brandon and Brenda walk in.

'Hey guys, the gang's all here!' Brandon says. He sits down next to Kelly and leans in to kiss her. She willingly kisses him and puts her arms around his neck. She deepens the kiss as she feels Brandon tighten his grip around her shoulder.

'Wow, guys, get a room!' Steve says. Brandon breaks away first with a look of slight embarrassment on his face, while Kelly leans back into the seat with a confident look on her face.

Brenda catches her brother's eye and gives him a _what-the-hell-was-that_ look. Brandon shrugs her off.

Brenda sits down next to Dylan instinctively and in a few seconds realizes that it was probably a bad idea. They had already been together twice that day, but the growing tension between them and the fact that Dylan was rubbing her leg under the table was not making this any easier for her.

She takes a deep breath and says, 'So, Saturday, what's the plan?'

The group begins to talk about what they needed and when to show up. They order some food and spend the rest of the night talking about how much they hate the fact that school is starting soon.

'Who wants to go shopping with me on tomorrow to get the food? Bren?' Donna asks.

'Oh, I have a few auditions tomorrow, so it would have to be in the evening some time. Is that okay?' she says.

'Auditions? Where?' Steve asks.

'Well, the Beverly Hills Arts Center is holding open auditions for 'Twelfth Night' and Area 8 Playhouse is holding auditions for 'Lovers and Other Strangers', and while I was in London I met with a few producers. One of them gave me information about a show at the Roundhouse Theatre that he thought I'd be perfect to get a leading role,' she says.

'Which one?' Donna asks.

''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf'. It's an extraordinary play and the role of Martha, played by Elizabeth Taylor in the movie, is one of those 'roles of a lifetime,' you know? So, I'm going to go down there tomorrow afternoon,' Brenda says.

The entire group stares at her with disbelief. She looks around the table to see mouths open and no one breathing.

'What? Why are you are looking at me like that?' she says.

'Brenda, that's a lot of auditions for one day, don't you think?' Andrea says.

'Not really, I'm sure I'll see some of the same people at all of them,' she explains.

'Well, break a leg Brenda, I'm sure they will all be fantastic,' Steve says.

'Thank you, Steve, that's very kind,' she says.

'Okay, so Brenda's going to be busy all day. Andrea, do you want to go with me?' Donna asks.

'Sure, I'll go,' Andrea replies. 'Well, folks, it looks like it's about that time. I have to get home now. I'll see you on tomorrow, Donna, and the rest of you I will see you on the beach,' she says.

'Bye Andrea,' Brandon says. Andrea looks back at Brandon and sees his arm around Kelly and her hand on his leg. She half-smiles at him and walks out the door. _'What do I do? Do I tell him what Kelly's been saying about him?'_

While Steve, Dylan, and Donna are talking to Brenda about how she prepares for an audition, Kelly whispers to Brandon, 'Why don't we get out of here? There are a few things I need to talk to you about.'

'Okay, let me just tell Brenda to get a ride home, okay?' he says to Kelly. She nods at him and he tries to get Brenda's attention. Brenda sees Brandon jerking his head at her and finishes her explanation quickly.

'Bren, can I talk to you for a second?' Brandon says. She nods and they both get up and walk to the other side of the restaurant.

'What's up Brandon?'

'Kelly wants to take off and have a talk,' he says a little wary as he begins to wring his hands together.

Brenda narrows her eyes at her brother. 'Brandon, are you okay? Do you need an excuse not to go because I could totally come up with something really good,' she says.

'Um, no, thanks for offering though. I just have a weird feeling about this,' he pauses for a few seconds, 'Well, I guess we're going to go, you can get a ride with Dylan, right?' Brandon lowers his voice so only she can hear him.

'Yeah, sure, it's no problem. Good luck Brandon,' she says.

They walk back over to the table and Brandon holds his hand out for Kelly. She smiles and takes it as she gets up.

'Bye guys,' she says seductively as she begins to walk toward the door with Brandon in tow.

'Well, they left in quite a hurry. I wonder what's going on. Does Kelly seem a little off lately, like not herself?' Steve asks.

'I don't know, Steve, maybe she's been sitting in the sun too long. Brandon just said that I was on my own and took off,' Brenda lies. She looks at Dylan and sighs.

'Well, I can give you a lift home if you need it,' Dylan says.

'Great, thanks,' she says. She looks over at Donna, who is staring at her and Dylan with a slight smile on her face. Brenda clears her throat and takes a sip of water, while Donna redirects her look to the table.

'Oh, well, look at the time, I have to go too,' Donna says.

They all get up and make their way to the door. They say goodnight to Nat and each other.

Brenda climbs into Dylan's car and he pulls away from the Pit.

'Well, that was interesting. What the hell is wrong with Kelly?' Dylan says.

'I have no idea, but I can tell you that Brandon was not as excited as he should have been to be leaving with her tonight,' Brenda says.

'Steve's right, she's acting really strange,' Dylan says.

'Yeah, I know. Donna said that she was acting weird at the beach this afternoon. I wasn't around for that since I was a little, um, preoccupied, but Donna was really freaked out,' Brenda says.

Dylan raises his eyebrows at her. 'You're right, there was a little preoccupation going on this afternoon. Well you know that three's a charm, right?' he says with a smile as he raises his eyebrows.

Brenda smiles and laughs out loud. 'Is it?' she says. Dylan quickly turns the car around at the next corner and drives toward his house instead of hers.


	12. Chapter 12

_The Time of Our Lives__ – Chapter 12 – Brandon seeks advice and Brenda auditions_

Brandon and Kelly drive to the beach and park the car. As soon as he shuts the car off Kelly leans over and starts kissing his neck. He tries to focus on how good it feels, but can't help feeling slightly uncomfortable.

'Kel, didn't you want to talk about something?' he says slowly.

She stops what she's doing and looks him straight in the face. 'It can wait,' she says.

'I'd kind of like to talk about the last time we were in my car, if you don't mind. I'm kind of confused as to why you just stormed out of the car like that,' he says. She begins to back off him and leans back into the seat.

'Oh, Brandon, I'm sorry about that. I was just really irritable and I was trying to hide it the entire night and it just kind of reared its ugly head toward the end there,' she lies.

He stares at her while she's talking and she doesn't look at him once. _'There's something she's not telling me.'_

'I'm sorry, I really am, I didn't mean to freak you out,' she says and turns her head up to him.

'Well, do you want to talk about it? It seemed that as soon as I mentioned Dylan you immediately got defensive and angry,' he explains.

'I don't really want to talk about it because it only lasted for a few moments, but if you do, then I guess we can. I didn't realize, but I guess I was still a little mad at the way he reacted at the beach club. I'm over it though, I swear, I just needed to get it out of my system,' she says with a pleading look. She really wanted to change the subject because she wasn't sure how much longer she could continue to lie without him noticing.

He nods his head and says, 'Okay.' He looks at the water through the windshield of the car. _'I don't think she even knows how transparent she is. I know she's lying and keeping something from me. How the hell do I play this one off?'_

'Brandon, please don't let this ruin our night. I really wanted to spend time with you, alone,' she says.

He looks over at her and she moves to kiss him. He lets her and continues to kiss her, but a growing feeling of nausea starts to settle in his stomach.

_Dylan's House_

Brenda and Dylan arrive at his house and walk quickly up to and through the front door. Dylan grabs her around the waist and spins her around while he kicks the door shut with his foot. She begins to take his shirt off as they walk slowly backward toward the bedroom. By the time they reach the bed they are both in different stages of undress. Dylan lays her down and Brenda wraps her arms and legs around him.

'Mmmmm,' she moans into his ear. He growls into her neck and pulls their bodies closer.

_The Peach Pit_

Brandon starts the car after making out with Kelly. He drives back to the Pit so that Kelly can get her car. She kisses him and smiles before getting out of his car and getting into her own. She takes off without a backward glance as Brandon is still sitting in his car shaking his head. He parks and goes into the diner.

'Hey Brandon, what are you doing back here? Did you forget something?' Nat says.

'Just came back to drop Kelly off at her car. She wanted to talk,' Brandon says.

'Ooh, that sound like girl trouble to me, how about some pie?' he asks.

'Absolutely,' Brandon says and shakes his head.

Nat brings over two pieces of pie and two cups of coffee. He stands in front of Brandon, sips his coffee.

'So, what's the problem?'

'Nat, I have this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach that Kelly is hiding something from me,' Brandon says.

'Where did you get that idea?' Nat asks.

'Well, she confessed that she's regretful of what she did to Dylan, since it was the same thing that Dylan did to Brenda. She doesn't seem to be handling those feelings all that well, and she tells me that she's fine and that she's done feeling like that, but I don't think she's telling me the truth,' Brandon says. He shakes his head again and drinks his coffee.

'I think that she's trying to hide how much it really affects her, and may be trying to reconcile with Dylan behind my back,' Brandon continues. Nat nods his head in understanding at what Brandon is telling him. 'Problem is, Nat,' Brandon stops, looks around at the patrons to make sure that he doesn't know any of them personally, 'that Dylan and Brenda have gotten back together and just haven't told anybody yet.'

'Wow, that's huge,' Nat says, 'why are they keeping it a secret?'

'They wanted to talk to my parents first about it. I think that they're going to tell everyone on Saturday when we get together down at the beach. Which I think is a great thing, but I'm actually afraid of how Kelly is going to react to that. Isn't that a bad sign or something?' Brandon asks.

'You could say that,' Nat says. He finishes off his coffee and pours a fresh cup for him and Brandon.

'I'm already formulating plans in my head of how I'm going to get as far from her as I can when Brenda finally breaks the news to everyone. I have a horrible feeling about this and I just can't shake that there is much more to this than she's telling me.'

'Well, Brandon, it looks like you've gotten yourself into a big mess here,' Nat says.

'Yeah, tell me about it.'

_Dylan's House_

Brenda lies in Dylan's arms amazed and a little shocked that they could not control themselves. She sits up a little to look at the clock.

'Dylan, we have to go, it's getting late and I need to get home,' Brenda says.

'Already? Come on, it's not that late,' he says as he wraps his arm around her and pulls her up on top of him.

'I know, but I have to get some sleep so that I can prepare for my auditions on tomorrow,' she says.

He looks at her and begins to smile. He takes his hand and puts a stray piece of her hair behind her ear. 'You are going to be great at your auditions. I just know it,' he says as she drops down to kiss him. They part and he says, 'So, do any of these plays conflict with school?'

'I already checked on that, and rehearsals take place in the early evenings since a lot of these people work day jobs, so as long as I don't take any late classes, I'll be alright,' she says with a smile.

'Well, that's good, I'm glad you don't have to drop out for this.'

'Yeah, me too, I'm really excited about this. It's going to be such an experience to perform and not be tied down to academic productions,' she says.

'Well, I am excited for you. Now, let's get you home so you can sleep, huh?' he says as he sits up, tightens his grip around her body, and pulls her into a kiss.

Brenda smiles at him and pushes him back down onto the bed. 'Well, maybe just a little bit longer,' she says as she drops down quickly and captures his lips fiercely.

_Casa Walsh_

Brandon pulls up to the house as Dylan is dropping Brenda off. She meets up with him at the front door.

'Hey, Brandon,' she says as she looks at him for signs of how his conversation with Kelly went.

'Hey, Bren,' he says with no inflection in his voice. He opens the front door and holds it open for her. She walks through as he closes the door and they make their way up the stairs to his room.

'Do you want to talk about it?' Brenda asks.

'No, I don't, not right now anyway. Tomorrow?' he asks.

'Sure, Brandon,' she says as she walks to her room and leaves him in the hallway.

Brenda wakes up the next morning and gets in the shower right away. She dresses in loose shorts and a tank top and clears a space in her room to practice her prepared monologue. She practices the speech over and over again until she feels that it's perfect. She takes a break and reads over the scripts again for the auditions she'll be attending.

'Brenda, are you up?' Cindy says through her door.

'Yeah, Mom, I've been up. I was practicing for my auditions today.'

'Oh, how's it going?' Cindy says.

'Great, I think I've got my monologue down and I am really confident that I know these plays well enough,' she says with a smile.

'That's great, honey. I just wanted to make sure that you were up and moving around,' Cindy says as she leaves Brenda's room.

Brenda goes to the phone and dials Dylan's number.

'Hello?' he says as he answers the phone.

'Hey,' she says.

'Hey, baby, how are you this morning? Ready for your auditions?' he asks.

'Well, I'm as ready as I'm going to be. So, what's our game plan for tomorrow night? Do you think the shock approach or the just come out and tell them approach would work better?' Brenda asks.

'Well, I'm always a fan of the shock approach,' he says seductively.

'Alright, then, the shock approach it is,' she laughs. 'I say we do it early, that way we can enjoy the rest of the night and they have time to just get over it,' she says.

'I will follow your lead,' he says. 'What time do you want me to come and pick you up today?' he asks.

'Um, in about an hour, since the first audition doesn't start until eleven o'clock,' she says.

'Okay, see you then,' he says as he hangs up the phone.

Brenda gets dressed and puts on her makeup. Brandon comes into the bathroom from his room to brush his teeth. She looks at him, but doesn't say anything. She continues to fix herself up.

'I'm leaving to go to my auditions now, Brandon, do you need anything?' she asks.

He looks over at her with a sullen look on his face. 'No, I'm fine. I'll talk to you when you get back, okay? I'm still not sure I've got it all sorted out anyway,' he says.

'Okay, see you later,' she says.

She disappears from the bathroom and he yells, 'Break a leg, Bren!' after her. He walks back to his room and flops onto his bed.

Brenda runs outside to meet Dylan. She gets in the car and he pulls back out of the driveway.

'Okay, where is the first one?' he asks. She gives him directions to the Beverly Hills Community Arts Center.

'Okay, so, I'm not sure how long I'll be in there,' she says.

'Bren, it's okay, I'll wait here,' Dylan says as he pulls out the newspaper.

She smiles at him and puts her hand on his face. 'You are so cute,' she says and kisses him before getting out of the car.

About an hour later, she comes out to see Dylan still reading the newspaper in the parking lot of the Arts Center.

'Hey,' she says as she opens the door.

He looks up a little surprised from the paper. 'Hey, how did it go?'

'I think it went alright. We didn't work a whole lot on Shakespeare at RADA, so I'm not sure how I did, but it was an experience, right?' she smiles at him. 'I think they may have something for Donna though. They were very interested in someone helping them with the period costumes and props for the set.'

'Oh, really, that's great. Donna will be excited about that,' he says, 'where's the next one?'

Dylan drives her to the Area 8 Playhouse. She goes in and comes out about 45 minutes later.

'Hey, how was that one?' he asks.

'Very interesting,' she says, 'There weren't a whole lot of people in there, but the play is so interesting, that we all just took turns reading for all of the parts. It was strange, but exciting at the same time!' she says.

'Great, sounds like that one is a good possibility, right?' Dylan says.

She nods her head at him. 'Okay, so the Roundhouse Theatre is the big one. This is the one that I received after the show at RADA,' she says. For the first time today, she begins to feel a little nervous.

Dylan notices her fidgeting a little bit and says, 'Bren, you are going to be great. This guy has already seen you perform and also saw you get the only standing ovation out of the whole class. You're going to do great, okay?' he says trying to reassure her.

She smiles at him and nods. He parks the car and she kisses him long and hard before getting out.

'Come back soon, I've got something to add to that,' he says. She smiles and goes into the theatre.

Dylan feels someone shaking his arm and he realizes that he had fallen asleep in the car waiting for Brenda to come out.

She calls his name and he opens his eyes all the way. He looks up at her and rubs his eyes.

'Either you were in there a really long time, or I'm just really, really tired,' he says.

She laughs out loud. 'I was in there a really long time, but you should be really, really tired after all of the exercise we got yesterday,' she says as she gets in the car and closes the door.

He smiles at her and puts his arm around her shoulders. 'So?' he asks.

Brenda tried, but could hardly contain her herself. 'Dylan I nailed it! I was so good at this audition, that people were watching me perform and leaving before they had a chance to audition,' she says quickly with excitement in her voice.

'Wow that is amazing. What did I tell you? Nothing to worry about, right?' he says.

She beams a thousand watt smile at him. He pulls her to him and whispers in her ear, 'I am so proud of you.'

Dylan drives her back to her house. 'So, any plans for tonight?' he says.

'Well, I told Donna that I'd give her a call when I got back to tell her how things went and then do whatever I could to help get ready for tomorrow, so I'm not sure yet,' she says.

'Give me a call later, okay?' he says. He kisses her and she gets out of the car and walks up toward the back door. Dylan thinks about how excited Brenda was about her last audition. He feels a moment of jealously that she's focusing her attention on something else, but it passes quickly. _'I am so proud of her. This is a great opportunity for her to do something that she loves and I am going to support her through this. Even if it kills me.'_


	13. Chapter 13

_The Time of Our Lives__ – Chapter 13 – Brenda and Brandon have an uncomfortable conversation and Kelly turns a corner_

Brenda walks into the kitchen after leaving Dylan in the driveway to see her mother talking on the phone.

'Oh, actually, she just walked in the door, hang on will you?' Cindy says. 'Honey, it's Donna.'

'Thanks, Mom,' she says as she takes the phone. 'Hey Donna! I was just about to call you!'

'Bren, how was it? Did you do well?' Donna asks.

'Yeah, I did really well. I feel good about it. I also think that I may have found you a job too,' Brenda tells her.

'Really, doing what?'

'Well, the Beverly Hills Community Arts Center is putting up 'Twelfth Night' and they are in desperate need of creative people to help put together the period costumes and props for the set decoration. I said that I knew someone who would be perfect for that,' Brenda says.

'Really, that's great! What do I do?' Donna asks.

'I'm going to give you the director's phone number. Just call him up and tell him that you're my friend and that you're interested in helping out with the costumes,' Brenda says.

'Oh, my God, I'm so excited!' Donna shrieks.

Brenda holds the phone away from her ear a little bit and Cindy laughs at the sounds coming out of the other end of the receiver.

'Donna? Are you done?' Brenda yells into the receiver that she is holding away from her head.

'Yeah, I'm done. Sorry! Anyway, Andrea and I went and got all of the food and stuff, but I think we're going to need help packing it all in the coolers and stuff. Can you come and help us?' Donna asks.

'Yeah, definitely, just let me get changed, okay?' Brenda asks.

'Okay, great. Oh, Bren, guess who called me today?' Donna asks.

'Who?'

'Jason! He's coming out to LA tomorrow afternoon with Lily and Sean. They were all offered jobs working on a production of 'Chicago' with the touring Broadway cast,' she says excitedly.

'Wow, that's great! I'm so happy that their all going to be here for a while! Did they say how long they were staying?' Brenda asks.

'They're not sure, but at least a month! I told them they were showing up just in time. They're going to join us at the beach tomorrow night!'

'Donna, that's great. I'm really excited for them to meet everybody!' Brenda says.

'Well, I better get going. I'll see you at Andrea's in a little while,' Donna says.

Brenda hangs up the phone and goes over to give her mother a hug. 'I did it, Mom. I went on my first couple of auditions and it felt absolutely fantastic. I didn't know it could feel like this. Even if I don't get cast in any of the shows I went to audition for, I can say that I've been there and done that and survived!' Brenda says. She hugs her Mom again and makes her way upstairs.

She opens her bathroom door, which was slightly ajar, and gets a sense of déjà vu. Brandon is standing at the mirror staring at his reflection. She can't tell if he's talking to his reflection, but he's definitely staring at it.

'Brandon?'

Brandon snaps out of his trance and turns his head to see Brenda standing at the door.

'Hey, Bren, how were your auditions?' he asks.

'Fine, they were great, actually. How are you? Why are staring at the mirror again?' she asks.

'Bren,' he says as he lets out a breath, 'I think Kelly is hiding something from me.'

Brenda widens her eyes at him and says, 'Really, why do you think that?'

He proceeds to tell her about the conversation they had in the car the night before.

'Bren, I started to get this nausea feeling and found myself almost backing away from her as she tried to kiss me. What's wrong with me?'

'Brandon, it's not you. She's definitely been acting strange, and maybe a little of what she said is the truth. Maybe she has dealt with some of that stuff and really just wants to move on with you so that she can deal with the rest of it. I'm not really sure,' Brenda says.

'Yeah, that's a possibility. I went back into the Pit after I dropped her off at her car. I talked to Nat for a few minutes and you know what I realized?' Brandon asked her.

Brenda shakes her head at him and he continues, 'I'm actually scared. I'm scared of what her reaction is going to be when you guys finally break the news to everyone that you are dating each other again. I think she's going to flip out and to tell you the truth, I don't want to be anywhere near her when she hears it for the first time.'

Brenda thinks about what Brandon is saying to her. _'Maybe the shock approach is not a good idea. If Brandon is frightened, then there is definitely something more to this than I originally thought.'_

'Wow, I didn't think it was that bad. I'm sorry, Brandon. I really am. Is there anything I can do? Should we not tell everyone about us yet? Would that make it easier?' Brenda asks.

'Bren, I don't know. I kind of want you to do it so that I can see for real what she's hiding from me. I'm glad that all of our friends will be around to see it, if it does happen, that way I'm not crazy,' he says.

Brenda walks over to her brother and puts her hand on his shoulder. 'Brandon, as much as I want Kelly to just be going through a momentary lapse of judgment, I have a feeling that something else is going on too,' she says softly.

'Bren, do you know something you're not telling me?' he asks her.

'Brandon, listen, I only heard this second hand. I wasn't there when it happened and I'm not even really sure how bad it was. Donna and Andrea were the only ones who can really tell you what happened,' she starts.

He walks from the bathroom into his room and sits on his bed. She joins him and grabs his hand for support while she tells him what Donna said at the beach. She tells him that Donna was uncomfortable with the details that Kelly was dishing out and it seemed as though it didn't phase Kelly that she may be saying things that were inappropriate about their relationship.

Brandon takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. 'Damn, Bren, what the hell is that all about? I mean, all we've done is make out to this point. We haven't slept together or anything, so what could she possibly have to brag about?'

'I don't know Brandon. Like I said before, I wasn't there, so it could have been harmless,' she says.

'Yeah, somehow I doubt that if Donna was so disgusted she had to get up and leave to go find you,' he says sadly.

'I'm so sorry,' she says. She squeezes his hand and he puts his head on her shoulder.

'What the hell am I going to do?'

Brenda and Brandon hold on to each other for a little while. He finally gets up and says, 'I have to get ready for Steve to come and get me. We're going to pick up some stuff for the beach tomorrow. I don't have time to dwell on this. Whatever happens, happens, and I'll just deal with it then,' he says.

'Brandon, you'll let me know if I can help you, right?' Brenda asks.

'Absolutely, I will.'

She goes back to her own room and picks up her jacket. She goes downstairs to tell her Mom that she's going over to Andrea's grandmother's house to help her and Donna put together the food for tomorrow night and leaves the house.

Brenda comes back a few hours later and joins her mother in the kitchen.

'Hi, I'm back,' Brenda says.

'Hi honey, Dylan called looking for you earlier. I told him where you were, but he said you can just give him a call when you get back,' she said.

'Thanks. Did Brandon go out with Steve?'

'Yeah, they left about an hour and a half ago to go get supplies, whatever that means,' Cindy says.

'I wish I could tell you, but I have no idea!' Brenda says. She makes her way back up to her room and calls Dylan.

'Hey, I'm back,' she says.

'Hey, how are Donna and Andrea?' Dylan asks.

'They're good. Donna is really excited because she got a call from Jason. Him, Lily, and Sean are all coming out here to work on 'Chicago' and Donna is like over the moon about it,' Brenda tells him.

'When are they coming out?' Dylan asks.

'Tomorrow afternoon and she's bring them to the beach with us, so that should be fairly interesting. Can you picture them interacting with Steve and Andrea?'

'Um, not really, but then again, I only met them once, so they might get along great,' Dylan says.

'Yeah, although,' Brenda pauses, 'we may have to change our shock approach plan. After talking to Brandon, things are not all happy in paradise and he thinks that Kelly's going to flip out when she realizes that we're together again,' Brenda says.

'What do you mean? What did he say?'

'Well, he said that she's been acting really strange and he really believes that she's hiding something from him. He actually said that he's afraid of how she's going to react and that he doesn't want to be anywhere near her when we tell everyone,' she says sadly. 'I'm really worried about him Dylan.'

'He's afraid of how she'll react? That's not good, Bren. Did something happen?'

'I don't know. He said he was a little uncomfortable and that when she got close to him he started to feel a bit of nausea. Obviously, that's not good to feel around someone you're dating, but he said the moment he realized that she was not being completely honest with him is when it started.'

'Damn, what the hell has gotten into her? She's got something really great going with Brandon and she's going to sabotage it for what?' Dylan asks getting a little frustrated.

'I don't know. She hasn't said anything to me about it. I mean, I did notice that she was acting a little strange, but nothing too weird. Anyway, now that all of these developments have come to fruition, I think tomorrow night is either going to be completely painless and we're all worrying for no reason or World War III,' she says.

'Bren, I have a horrible feeling that you're right about that,' he says. 'Let's not dwell on that shall we? How about some dinner with me?' he asks.

'Sounds good, what do you want to do?'

'I'm thinking we order in and watch some old black and white movies that are totally irrelevant to modern day but classic enough to stand the test of time.'

Brenda smiles to herself and says, 'I like that plan.'

'I'm coming to get you,' he says and hangs up the phone.

Brenda changes her clothes, fixes her makeup, and goes downstairs to tell her mother that she'll be going out to dinner with Dylan. She hears a knock on the door and goes to open it expecting Dylan to be on the other side.

'Hi, Bren, you look great. Is Brandon here?' Kelly says.

'Hi, Kel, thanks. No, Brandon's not here. He's out with Steve getting supplies for tomorrow night,' she says, a little wary.

'Oh,' Kelly says disappointed. 'I guess I should have called first before coming over, then huh?'

Brenda smiles at her nervously. 'Yeah, maybe,' she says. 'Kel, are you alright?'

'Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I just wanted to see if Brandon wanted to go out tonight,' she says. She shifts her weight from one foot to the other. 'I guess I'll come back later,' she says as she turns around to leave and almost runs right into Dylan.

Brenda feels a moment of panic as Dylan and Kelly stare at each other. _'Oh, God, oh, God.'_

'Hey there, Kelly,' Dylan says as he sidesteps her and walks into the foyer.

'Dylan? What are you doing here? If you're looking for Brandon, he's not here,' Kelly says.

'Oh, I need to talk to Jim,' he says smoothly.

Brenda looks at Kelly and sees recognition across her face. _'Of course, good one Dylan. I don't think I would have come up with that this quickly.'_

'Right, well, I'll see you guys later,' Kelly says as she walks back to her car.

'Nice save, Mr. McKay,' Brenda says.

He puts his arms around her and kisses her. 'I saw her car out front and had a feeling I may need to come up with a lie,' he says.

'Well, one more day and then no more lies,' Brenda says as he kisses her again. They stand in the foyer for a few minutes kissing, almost forgetting where they were. Brenda hears her mother walking around in the kitchen and pulls away from Dylan.

'We are actually going to eat food and watch a movie, right?' she asks him.

He smiles at her and raises his eyebrows.

'Honey, is Kelly waiting for you?' Cindy says as she walks in from the kitchen.

'Huh? What do you mean?' Brenda says.

'Kelly is just sitting in her car in the driveway. She walked out there and got in, but she hasn't started it or made any move to leave,' Cindy explains.


	14. Chapter 14

_The Time of Our Lives__ – Chapter 14 – Brandon gets caught in the middle and Brenda and Dylan prepare to out themselves_

Brenda stands at the living room window and peering out through the curtains. She watches Kelly in her car sitting in the driveway. She has not put the keys in the ignition and she has her hands folded together in her lap.

'She's just sitting there,' Brenda says. 'Do you think that she'll stay there and wait for Brandon? That's why she came over here.'

'Well, who knows when he'll be back? Isn't that a little strange?' Cindy asks.

Brenda and Dylan exchange looks. 'You not the first one to say that Kelly has been acting strange this week. People have been saying that for the last few days,' Brenda tells her mother.

Cindy shakes her head and walks back into the kitchen.

'Well, if she doesn't leave, how are we going to get out of here?' Dylan says.

Brenda shakes her head and says, 'I have no idea.'

Dylan sits on the couch in the living room and puts his hands together. Brenda turns around and stares out the window at Kelly. She tries to figure out what would possess her friend to sit in her car like that. Several minutes go by before she breaks the silence.

She turns around to face Dylan, 'There's no reason for us to worry about her. Why don't we just go?' Brenda says.

Dylan thinks about it for a few minutes. 'You're right, why should we let her ruin our evening?' he says as he gets up off of the couch and walks over to her. He grabs her hand and kisses it.

Brenda smiles at him. 'Just let me get my jacket and I'll be ready to go,' she says. She goes upstairs to her room. She looks out the window again at Kelly sitting in her car. _'What the hell is she doing? Has she totally cracked or something?'_

She goes into the bathroom to touch up her makeup, grabs her jacket and makes her way back downstairs.

'Things just got a little more interesting than they were a minute ago,' Dylan says as he stands at the window looking out at the driveway.

'Why?' Brenda asks.

'Steve and Brandon just pulled up,' he says.

Brenda joins him at the window as they look out to see what's happening.

'Kelly?' Brandon says as he walks up to her car, 'what are you doing here?'

'Oh, hi Brandon, I just came over to see if you were busy tonight, but you weren't here, so I was just getting ready to leave,' she says.

'Oh, well, Steve and I were out getting stuff for the beach tomorrow night. I didn't know you wanted to get together,' he says.

'Yeah, well, I figured that I would catch up with you at some point,' she says.

'Let me go put this stuff inside and I'll be right back out to talk, okay?' he says.

'Okay.'

Brandon grabs a few bags out of Steve's car and heads up to the house. He opens the front door and walks in to see Dylan and Brenda in the living room watching out the window.

'What's going on, guys?' Brandon asks concerned.

'What did she say, Brandon?' Brenda asks.

'She said that she came over to see me and I wasn't here so she was just getting ready to leave, why?' he asks.

Dylan closes his eyes and shakes his head. 'Man, she's been sitting in her car in your driveway for past 10 minutes,' he says.

'What?' Brandon asks in disbelief.

'She came over here, found out you weren't here and has been sitting in her car ever since,' Brenda says.

'Great, that's just great. She wants to hang out tonight, but I don't know if that's such a good idea,' he says. 'I think I just need a break to get ready for tomorrow.'

'Can't you tell her you have to work or Dad needs you to do something around here?' Brenda asks.

'If I tell her I have to work, she might go down and hang out at the Pit. If I tell her I have to stay here, she may never leave the driveway,' he says.

'Wow, this has sure taken a turn down Crazy Lane,' Dylan says. Brenda tries to suppress a smile, but can't quite do it.

'I guess I should go back out there,' Brandon says as he puts the bags down and goes back out the front door to deal with Kelly.

'Sorry, my mom was talking to me,' he says as he approaches her car.

'It's okay, I was thinking maybe we could go see a movie or something? You know, kind of zone out and enjoy ourselves,' she says.

'_That's probably harmless right? A movie, not much talking to each other, and I do have to work the early shift tomorrow, maybe I can cut the evening short.'_

'Yeah, sure, I do have to get back here at a reasonable time though, I have the early shift tomorrow,' he says.

'Okay,' she says. 'Why don't you hop in and we'll just go right now?'

Brandon glances back at the house and sees Brenda and Dylan's outlines in the window of the living room. He gets into her car and she pulls out of the driveway.

'Oh, God, he's going with her,' Brenda says.

'Maybe we should talk to Donna and Andrea and find out what they really heard. Maybe it just sounds worse than it really was?' Dylan says.

'Yeah, but not tonight, let's go before we're stuck here forever,' Brenda says. They say goodbye to Cindy and walk out to Dylan's car.

They make their way back to Dylan's house and Brenda walks in and goes to the couch to sit down.

'What the hell is with all of this drama? I want to go back to Italy,' Brenda whines a little.

Dylan smiles at her, sits on the couch and puts his arm around her. 'I know, baby, I know. We knew this would happen, though, and that's why we've got to try to stay away from as many of them as possible. Once school starts it will get better,' he says.

'You're probably right. I guess I've just had enough of them.'

'Well, let's stop talking about them first, and second,' he says as she looks up at him. He captures her lips with his.

She breaks away from him after a little while and looks at him. 'Dylan, can I ask you something?'

'Sure,' he says.

'Do you think we're just making up for lost time by not being able to control ourselves for even one day?' she smiles at him.

'Absolutely I do and I don't think we've made up for nearly enough of the time that was lost, so we better get cracking,' he says.

She gets up from the couch and stands over him. She leans down and grabs his face with both of her hands. She kisses him passionately and pulls away as he tries to wrap his arms around her. She backs up slowly at first and then quickens her pace toward the bedroom. He jumps up off of the couch quickly and then slowly begins to stalk her down the hallway.

She keeps her eyes focused on him the entire time, trying to seductively pull him to her with her eyes. He follows in pursuit until she reaches the doorway to the bedroom. He pounces quickly and grabs her as they fall onto the bed together. He towers over her and leans down to kiss her. She feels her body respond quicker than she had ever responded before.

She moans into his ear and presses their bodies together as closely as possible. They move in silence, holding on to each other.

'I love you,' he says, 'I love you so much.'

She leans into him and holds him tight. 'I love you too,' she replies.

_Casa Walsh_

Kelly pulls up the driveway and shuts the car off. Brandon looks over at her and sighs a little.

'Well, that was an interesting movie,' Brandon says, trying to think of something else to say.

'I thought it was good,' Kelly says.

'Well, I better get going, I've got a long day tomorrow,' Brandon says as he opens the door and gets out of Kelly's car.

'Okay, Brandon, I know you have to work early in the morning. When will you be done?' Kelly asks.

'Well, I have the early shift and then I have to come back here for a little while. I'm meeting up with Steve to bring the stuff down to the beach around 5:30pm so that we can set it up while we still have some light.'

'It sounds like you're really busy tomorrow. I guess I'll just see you at the beach then?' Kelly says.

'Yeah, sounds good,' Brandon says quickly as he opens the door and gets out of the car. He looks back at Kelly and says, 'Goodnight, Kel.'

She looks at him and is about to say something when he turns and walks up to the house and disappears from sight.

_Dylan's House_

'Dylan, it's getting late, we better get going,' Brenda says as she begins to dress.

'Oh, alright,' he says as he gets up and puts his arms around her. 'I can't wait to be able to do this in front of everybody.'

Brenda smiles up at him and kisses his neck. 'Yeah, me too.'

They get dressed and drive back to Casa Walsh. Brenda sees it first and quickly tells Dylan to drive past the house.

'What?' he says, confused.

'Kelly and Brandon are in the car in front of us and they are about to pull into the driveway. Drive around the block or something,' Brenda says.

Dylan drives around the block.

'Drive slow, we should be able to see if her car is still in the driveway and not be seen if we stay to this side of the street and park in front of the neighbor's house,' Brenda says.

Dylan positions the car so that it is partially hidden from view of the Walsh house. He turns off the lights and they watch Brandon and Kelly talking. They watch Brandon abruptly get out of the car and walk quickly up to the house.

Dylan and Brenda exchange glances as they watch Kelly try to decide what to do next.

'Is she talking to herself?' Brenda asks.

'Yeah, I think she is,' Dylan says, squinting so that he can try to make out what Kelly is actually doing.

They wait a few minutes and Kelly finally starts the car and backs out of the driveway. She does not see them as she drives away.

'I don't know what's going on with her, but I think I need to find out. If Brandon's initial feeling is right, then she may actually flip out tomorrow night. Maybe I should tell her before everyone else?' Brenda says.

'I don't want you alone with her. If she's on the edge of a freak out, I don't want you near her. If you want to tell her before everyone else, call me and we will do it together,' Dylan warns her.

'Dylan, what could she possibly do to me?' Brenda asks.

Dylan starts the car, turns the lights on and pulls up the driveway to her house. 'Bren, please, promise me that you won't go and talk to her alone,' he says firmly.

'Okay, fine, I promise, I won't talk to her alone,' she says. She leans over and kisses him.

'What time are we making our appearance tomorrow?' he asks her.

'I think Donna said that Brandon and Steve are going to start setting up around 5:30, so we should probably go then and help them,' she says.

'Okay, I will come and get you then,' he says. He puts his hand on the side of her face and brings her closer to him and kisses her slowly.

'Goodnight,' she says. She gets out of the car and heads up to the house with a smile on her face.

Brenda walks into the house and goes to her room. She opens the door to see Brandon sitting on her bed waiting for her.

'Brandon, are you okay?' she says and walks to him.

'I don't know,' he says as he stares down at his hands.

'How was the movie? Did anything weird happen while you were out with Kelly?'

'The movie was good and nothing weird happened. I was just sitting here thinking that I hope you're right. I hope that she's done with this craziness and has dealt with her feelings about Dylan,' he says.

'Me too, Brandon. I'm sure it'll be okay. She can't harbor these feelings of regret and guilt forever.'

'I'm going to try to stay as open-minded as I can about this. We'll see tomorrow if she's really over this. I'm a little less scared of it now, but there's still some slight feeling of trepidation about the whole thing,' he admits.

'Well, we'll all be there and we'll just have to deal with it together,' she says as she puts her hand on his shoulder.

'Yeah, it should be interesting, at least, right?' he asks, laughing a little.

Brenda smiles at him and says, 'Definitely.'


	15. Chapter 15

_The Time of Our Lives__ – Chapter 15 – London comes to Beverly Hills_

_LAX_

Donna waits at the airport for Jason, Lily, and Sean to arrive. She begins to feel butterflies in her stomach about seeing them again and hopes that they are happy to see her too.

'Donna!' she hears as she looks up and sees the three of them walking toward her.

'Hi!' she says as she runs up to them. Lily gives her a hug.

'It's so great to see you. I am so excited to be in Los Angeles,' Lily says.

'I'm so glad you guys are here! Let's go. I can't wait to get you guys settled so that you can come and meet all of my friends,' she says as they start to walk out of the airport.

'What about Brenda? I thought maybe she'd be here with you,' Jason says.

'Oh, Brenda is helping get stuff together for our night on the beach, but she's super psyched that you guys are here too,' Donna says.

'Well, let's go and get this stuff to our apartment. I'm starving,' Sean says.

'I've got the perfect place for that,' Donna says with a smile.

_The Peach Pit_

Brandon cleans off the counter and puts more napkins in the dispenser.

'Brandon, are you alright? You've been distracted all day,' Nat says.

Brandon looks up at Nat. 'Oh, yeah, I'm alright, just got a lot on my mind, Nat,' he says.

'Still having Kelly issues?' he asks.

'We'll find out tonight,' he says as the door opens and Donna walks in with three people he doesn't recognize.

'Hi Brandon, this is Jason, Lily, and Sean. This is Brenda's twin brother, Brandon. I met these guys in London when I went to visit Brenda,' Donna says.

Brandon shakes their hands. 'It's nice to meet you. So, are you also survivors of the RADA program?' he asks.

'Yup, that's us. We were all offered positions with 'Chicago' that's touring through this area,' Sean says.

'I didn't know Brenda was a twin,' Lily says as she extends her hand to Brandon to shake with a huge smile on her face.

'Brenda's been going on auditions non-stop since she's been back. She's supposed to hear back whether or not she was cast on Monday, I think,' Brandon says.

'Yeah, and she also put me in contact with the producers of 'Twelfth Night' at the Beverly Hills Arts Center. I'm going to help them with the costumes and set designs,' Donna says excitedly.

'That's great, Donna. I'm so glad we got you involved in theatre,' Jason says.

Donna smiles at him and says, 'Well, you better order up because we have to get going soon to get ready for the party.'

'Nat will take care of you from here. I'm off to go get changed and meet up with Steve. It was nice to meet you guys and I guess, I'll see you a little while,' Brandon says.

He makes his way home to shower and get changed.

'Brenda? What are you and Dylan doing? Are you coming down with me or is he going to take you?' Brandon yells through the bathroom door to Brenda, who is trying to find something to wear.

'Dylan's coming to get me, so you don't have to worry about me,' she yells back at him.

'I met some of your friends from London at the Pit. Donna brought them in,' he says.

'Oh, good, I'm glad they got here okay.'

'Well, I'm going down now to meet Steve,' he says.

'Okay, see you there,' she says as she throws yet another shirt onto the floor in disgust.

Brenda is in the bathroom finishing her makeup when she hears a knock at the door.

'Please tell me you are almost ready to go?' she hears Dylan say. She walks out of the bathroom to see him staring at the pile of clothes on the floor.

He looks up as she comes out of the bathroom. He sees her standing in front of him with a beautiful sundress on with a halter top. She spins around to show him the entire dress and he sees that the back dips down to below her waistline.

'Damn, Bren, you look great,' he says.

She takes a bow and hears him whistle at her. She smiles, grabs the bag that was on the bed and walks over to where he is standing.

'I am ready,' she says.

'Really, because I think we should stay and talk about this dress some more,' he replies. She laughs at him and playfully hits him on the arm.

'Let's go,' she says.

They walk out of the house and get in the car to drive down to the beach to meet everyone.

_The Beach_

Brandon parks his car and grabs the bags out of the back. He walks down to where Steve is piling up some wood for the bonfire.

'Hey man,' Steve says. 'The rake is over there. You might want to start with that first.'

Brandon looks around the area and sees debris. He starts raking the site where he will put up the tents.

Donna, Jason, Sean, Lily, and Andrea show up with the food, chairs, and a few blankets.

'Hey ladies and some people I don't yet know,' Steve says.

'Steve, this is Jason, Sean, and Lily. I met them while I was in London and they're here in LA working on some theatre,' Donna explains.

'Wow, that's great, the more the merrier. You guys want to help us with the tents?' Steve asks.

The guys set up the tents, while the girls put out the chairs and blankets around where the bonfire will be.

Donna hardly notices when Kelly shows up with David in tow. She's setting up the grill to begin cooking the food they brought when she hears his voice.

'Um, it's nice to meet all of you,' David says as he's introduced to the RADA crowd.

'Where's Brenda?' Kelly asks Brandon.

'Oh, she had some things to take care of back at the house, so I asked Dylan run up and get her, since he was running a little late too,' Brandon lies.

David makes his way over to where Donna is rifling through one of the coolers.

'Hi Donna,' he says.

'Hi, David, I didn't know you were coming,' she says flatly.

'Yeah, Kelly invited me at the last minute. Maybe she felt bad for me or something,' he says.

'I have no idea why she would feel bad for you,' Donna says pointedly, as she closes the cooler and walks to where Steve and Brandon are setting up the tents.

'Please tell me there's enough room to fit us all so that I don't have to be in the same tent with David,' Donna says quietly to Brandon.

Brandon looks up and sees that David is indeed standing by the coolers and Donna is freaking out a little bit.

'Don't worry, Don, we'll make sure he's no where near you, okay?' Brandon says.

'Good,' Donna says as she walks down to the water where Sean and Lily are standing.

Dylan and Brenda pull up and park the car. Brenda stares down the beach at all of her friends and recognizes that her friends from RADA had shown up and were mingling with her other friends. She sees Brandon and Steve finish with the tents and Kelly sitting in one of the chairs staring at them.

Dylan looks at Brenda's face as she's taking in the scene before them. 'Bren, you okay?' he asks as he takes her hand.

She turns her head to look at him and sighs. 'Yes, I'm more than okay,' she squeezes his hand and leans over to kiss him.

'Let's go do this, huh?' he says with a smile.

Brenda nods her head and gets out of the car. Dylan opens the trunk and gets her bag and a few bags that Brandon had left at the house.

They begin to walk slowly over to where the gang is already laughing and having a good time.

'Brenda!' Jason says loudly as he sees her coming toward them. He walks over and gives her a hug right away. He shakes Dylan's hand and nods his head at him. Sean, Lily, and Donna come running up from the water when they see Brenda. She embraces them.

'Oh, my God! It's feels like it's been so long since we last saw you! You look great! I love this dress!' Lily says.

'Thanks, you look great too! I'm so glad you guys got the opportunity to come out here and work. This is going to be great,' Brenda says.

'So, how was your trip? Was it everything you dreamed it would be?' Sean asks.

Brenda stops for a split second and her heart skips a beat. She smiles nervously at him and lets out a breath. Her mind begins racing and she blurts out, 'Oh, yeah, it was great, thanks for asking.'

She looks up at Dylan, who leans down slightly and says, 'Maybe we don't need to tell them, I think your friends from London might take care of that for us.'

'Yeah,' she says nervously. They walk over to where Brandon is and hand him the rest of the stuff he left at home. Dylan puts Brenda's bag over by the tents and goes to find a place to sit down. Kelly stares at Dylan as he puts Brenda's bag down by the tents.

Steve and Brandon get the fire started and Brenda helps Donna with preparing the food.

Kelly and David talk with Andrea, while Jason, Lily, and Sean sit near Dylan.

'So, Dylan, we never got to ask you what you thought of the show,' Jason asks.

Dylan looks around and realizes that no one is really paying attention to him or listening.

'Oh, I thought it was great. Interesting storyline and I really liked the way the scenes were put together,' Dylan says. 'Listen, can I talk to you for a second?'

Dylan gets up and Jason nods and follows him. Donna and Brenda look up to see them walking away from the camp.

'Look, Jason, I know you really don't know me or anything, but I need a favor,' Dylan starts.

Jason looks at him, a little confused, but nods his head at Dylan anyway.

'These guys,' Dylan says as he gestures toward the group, 'don't all know about Brenda and I getting together. They certainly don't know that I went to London to be with her or that we took a trip to Italy after classes were over. Brenda never told them that she lied about the end of the class,' Dylan explains.

'Okay, so, what does that have to do with me?' Jason asks.

'Brenda wanted to tell them when they were all in the same place what was going on, but I guess she didn't expect you guys would be here or that you'd be talking about seeing me over there,' Dylan explains.

'Oh, okay,' Jason says, finally getting it.

'She's going to tell them tonight, but if you guys could do us a favor and just hold off on the talk about London and our trip to Italy, we would really appreciate it,' Dylan says.

'Yeah, sure, no problem, I'll go tell Sean and Lily to zip it for a bit,' Jason says and smiles at Dylan.

They walk back over to the group with smiles on their faces. Jason grabs Sean and Lily and they walk back down to the water's edge to chat with each other.

Kelly watches Dylan and Jason come back to the camp.

'Dylan, do you know him?' Kelly asks.

'No, not really,' Dylan says flippantly, as he makes his way over to Brandon.

'Okay, we're putting the food on, are you guys hungry?' Donna asks.

"Yeah, let's get it on,' Steve says and walks over to the grill to help the girls out.

'Brandon, how are you holding up?' Dylan asks.

Brandon looks over at him and nods his head a little. 'Better than I was yesterday. I'm just going to sit back and let this thing play out. There is no reason for me to be worried or scared about what's going to happen. I'm just going to let it happen,' Brandon says confidently.

'I'm glad you're feeling better about all of this,' Dylan says.

'Yeah, me too.'

Brenda walks over to the two of them as they are talking. She puts her hands on her hips and sighs out loud.

'Well, shall we get this party started or what?' she asks.

Brandon looks between her and Dylan. 'Just let me get to the other side of the camp and then go for it,' he says with a smile.

Brenda stands near Dylan and waits as Jason, Lily, and Sean make their way back up them.

Brenda takes in the scene playing out in front of her. Donna and Steve are over by the grill opening packages of hot dogs. Brandon is seated in a chair on the opposite side of the fire pit so that he can get a good look at Kelly's face. Andrea and David are sitting on a blanket near Kelly and the RADA crowd has filled in the circle between Brandon and Kelly.

Brenda clears her throat and takes a deep breath. _'Okay, now is the time. It's time to tell your best friends in the world that you have rediscovered the love of your life.'_


	16. Chapter 16

_The Time of Our Lives__ – Chapter 16 – Brenda tells everyone her secret_

'Guys, I have some great news that I need to tell you. I wanted to wait until we were all together and here we are, with a few additions,' Brenda says, nodding to her friends from London.

Everyone stops what they're doing and turns to look at Brenda. She is standing in front of Dylan near where the tents were set up.

'While I was in London with these guys, Donna wasn't the only one that I invited to come and visit me,' she says as she registers the confused looks on most of her friend's faces. She looks over at Donna, who is beaming with a huge smile on her face.

'I had an encounter with someone before I left for London and I invited him to come and spend some time in London with me and then take some time to spend together after classes were over. I kind of stretched the truth a little when I told you guys it was a 6-week program. It was actually only 5 weeks long and I spent the last week with him traveling around Europe.'

Kelly stares up at her friends, completely confused. She looks back and forth between Brenda, Jason, Sean, and Dylan to gauge their reactions. Brenda doesn't seem to be looking at any of them and Dylan is staring intently down at the ground.

Brenda sees Kelly, Steve, David, and Andrea eyeing up Jason and Sean, trying to figure out if one of these guys is really from LA and could be the one she is talking about.

Brenda smiles at their expressions and continues. 'I just wanted to tell you all this because I think it's important that you know that I've grown up since my time away from home. I've learned a lot about myself and really think that this is the right thing for me right now,' Brenda turns her head slightly toward where Dylan is standing behind her.

Kelly sees Brenda look in Dylan's direction and begins to put two and two together and almost yelps out loud when she connects all of the dots in her head.

Dylan decides that this is the perfect opportunity to show them what she's been talking about. He grabs her arm from behind, dips her down, and begins to kiss her. They hear a few gasps from their friends and then clapping.

She wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him back. He finally lifts her back up and she almost doesn't want to look up to see what they are doing.

She opens her eyes to look at them and sees Donna clapping and jumping up and down. Sean, Lily, and Jason are also clapping and whistling at them. Brandon has his eyes completely fixed on Kelly, who is sitting in her chair looking up at them with at bewildered look on her face and her mouth wide open.

Andrea is the first to move and she gets up and gives Brenda and Dylan a hug.

'Congratulations, guys. I have been wondering why the hell you've been so happy lately. I just couldn't put my finger on it and now I know,' she says to Brenda.

'Thanks, Andrea,' Brenda says.

'Well, Andrea, I couldn't have done it without you actually. You convinced me that writing my feelings down was a good way to get all those things out of my head so that I could see them clearer. I wrote all of those things down and showed a few of them to Brenda to get across what I was really feeling, and it worked.' Dylan says.

'I'm glad I could be of service to you Dylan,' she says as she smiles at him.

'Well, anyone else have any secrets they'd like to reveal before we eat, because I'm not cleaning up anyone's vomit, okay?' Steve says. He laughs and continues to help Donna unwrap the hotdogs.

Everyone is silent for a few seconds. Dylan decides to explain a little bit further to ease their minds a little bit.

'We decided that as much fun as it was sneaking around with each other for the summer, there was really no reason for us to be doing it. We already have the blessings of Jim, Cindy, and even Brandon and that's all we need. So, it was time we told you guys,' Dylan says. He leans down and kisses Brenda on the neck.

She closes her eyes and turns her head up to him. He lays a gentle kiss on her lips.

'We're going to go take a walk now. Feel free to talk about us behind our backs while we're gone,' Dylan says as he leads Brenda down the beach.

Brandon gets up and walks over to where Kelly is sitting.

'Kel, are you okay? Say something,' Brandon says to her. She finally closes her mouth as she watches Brenda and Dylan walk hand in hand down the beach. She's overwhelmed with confusion about the whole situation and tries to think back to when Brenda came back from London to figure out if there were any signs that she should have seen.

'You knew about this, Brandon?' Kelly asks, still stunned.

'I did too,' Donna chimes in. 'I was in London when she read a beautiful letter that he had written to her. He jumped on a plane a few days later. While I went with Jason, Lily, and Sean to Paris for the week after their classes had ended, Dylan took Brenda on a fantastic trip from London down to the Italian Riviera,' Donna explains.

'Oh, that must have been so romantic. I was really wondering why Brenda was so happy and I thought maybe being in London had done her some good. Well, I guess I was right in a way, huh?' Andrea says.

'Brenda didn't tell me anything until the very last moment. Dylan was coming over to have dinner with my parents and Brenda told me about their relationship about 10 minutes before he showed up,' Brandon explains.

'I had no idea that she was keeping this a secret from us. How could I have been so blind?' Kelly says.

'Kel, no one knew about it. They were trying really hard to keep it a secret. They needed some time to just be by themselves without us interfering so that they could work through some things. I think it was the best thing that they could have done, to shield their new relationship from the good-intentioned friends who ended up tearing them apart last time,' Donna says, matter-of-factly, as she stares bullets at Kelly.

'I think that maybe that's why Dylan may have been acting a little strange toward everyone. I don't think he's real good at hiding his feelings toward Brenda and I think it was starting to show, so he was going over the top to hide it,' Brandon says, hoping that his words get through to Kelly.

'Yeah, that must have been why he seem so distracted when I talked to him,' Kelly tells him, finally understanding a little of what happened between her and Dylan.

Brandon lets out a breath and nods his head at her. 'That must have been it,' he says to her.

'Kel, do you want to take a walk or something with me to think this out?' Brandon asks her. She looks up at him as he offers his hand to help her up. She takes it and begins to walk down the beach in the opposite direction of where Brenda and Dylan went.

They walk in silence for a few minutes as Kelly tries to process what she's heard and how she feels.

'Kel, are you sure you're okay with this? I mean, now is the time to get this stuff out, you know, while they're gone. I know that you were still feeling a little regretful and guilty over how you ended things with Dylan, are you still feeling like that?' Brandon asks her.

Kelly looks at Brandon for a few minutes before answering. 'You know, Brandon, as angry as I thought I was a few minutes ago, I think I really am okay with this. It's all kind of coming together now and I guess I really had nothing to be guilty about, since it seemed as though Dylan really didn't have much invested in me or us as a couple. I mean, I have always said that Brenda and Dylan were meant to be together and I think I'm ready to face the fact that I was right all along,' she says, with a weak smile.

He tries to smile back at her, wondering if this could be the calm before the storm, or if she really means what she just said.

'Brandon, I'm so sorry for freaking out on you. I guess I should have dealt with my feelings better, but I was having a hard time seeing through them to the real answers. I'm so sorry,' Kelly says, as she puts her hand on the side of his face.

Brandon smiles at her. She leans in and kisses him. He feels the tension in her shoulders disappear as he kisses her back. He wraps his arms around her and lifts her up. She melts into his arms and when they part she lets out a huge sigh.

'I was so caught up in getting closure that I just didn't see you standing right in front of me. I'm so sorry, Brandon,' she says again.

'It's okay, Kel, as long as you are done acting weird,' he says to her.

'Done, over, finito,' she says and kisses him again.

_The Camp_

'Well, looks like everything is coming together nicely. Looks like we've got our power couples back and going strong. So, what's next for us, huh?' Steve asks.

Donna and Andrea laugh at Steve's comment. 'Come on Steve, let's play some games while the food is cooking,' Andrea says.

'Power couples?' Lily asks Donna.

Donna laughs out loud. 'Yeah, it's a long story. Remind me to tell you about it sometime,' she says as she looks in the direction that Brenda and Dylan went and then back to the direction that Brandon and Kelly went.

_Down the Beach_

Dylan and Brenda walk away from their friends and down the beach.

'Well, we did it, we told everyone,' Dylan says.

'Yeah, we did,' Brenda says.

'Bren, are you okay?' Dylan asks her and stops walking. He takes both of her hands in his and squeezes them.

'I'm great, Dylan. I thought it would be harder to tell them, but it really wasn't,' she says, 'and was hoping that Kelly wouldn't flip out and she didn't. I can't say that she's not flipping out now, but I'm really hoping that she's okay with it.'

'I'm sure she's fine. Brandon hasn't come running down here looking to get away from her, so I think it's a safe bet that she'll be just fine with this,' he says. He leans down and captures her lips with his. She lets go of his hands and wraps her arms around his neck.

They kiss each other for a long time. Brenda finally breaks them apart and smiles at Dylan.

'I guess we should get back there and try to enjoy the party, huh?' she asks.

'If we have to. You brought a tent just for us, right? Because I can't wait to figure out how this dress has managed to stay on you for so long,' he says.

Brenda laughs at him and grabs his hand and leads him back to where their friends had set up camp.

'Well, this has certainly been an exciting first night in LA,' Lily says.

Steve, Andrea, and David turn their attention to the three strangers sitting on the beach.

'Oh, wow, we almost forgot you were here, sorry guys,' Andrea says.

'I kind of felt like an insider, seeing as we knew that Dylan came to London to see her already,' Sean says with a laugh.

'Who wants to help me serve the food?' Donna asks. Jason gets up immediately and makes his way over to where Donna is standing.

'I am at your disposal,' he says to her.

'Do you see what I was talking about in Paris? They are so caught up in themselves,' Donna whispers to Jason.

'Don't worry, we'll impress them yet,' Jason whispers back and gives her a huge smile. He grabs the plates that are in Donna's hands and holds them while she put hotdogs on them.

He walks the plates around the camp, giving a plate to each one of them. Brenda and Dylan return from their walk down the beach. Dylan sits in one of the chairs and pulls Brenda down to sit in front of him.

'Welcome back guys,' Steve says sincerely, trying to incite the double meaning with a smile. He gives Dylan a high five and goes to the cooler to get a soda.

'Where's Brandon?' Brenda asks.

'Oh, he took a walk down the beach with Kelly. I think she's finally back to normal,' Donna says and winks at Brenda.

Brenda smiles at her friend and says, 'That's great to hear.'

'Brenda, you want in on this fantastic poker game with no chips?' Sean asks.

'Um, no chips? What are you using to bet with?' she asks him.

'Pretzels,' he says with a laugh.

'Well, alright then deal 'em,' she says.

'Deal me in too,' Dylan says.

_Down the Beach_

'Brandon, can I ask you something?' Kelly says and sees him nod. 'How long have you known about them being together?' Kelly asks him as they slowly stroll down the beach.

'Only about a week or so,' he tells her. 'I thought that Dylan was distracted for a while there too, but as soon as Brenda told me that they had hooked up in London and that they were telling my parents about their relationship, I knew that it had to be her that was making him seem not like himself.'

'Yeah, it totally makes sense now. I guess I was kind of obsessed there for a while about getting this closure with him so that I could start fresh with you,' Kelly stops walking and takes Brandon's hand in hers. 'I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable at any point during this whole thing. I guess I just couldn't let it go, but it's definitely gone now. I don't feel the slightest need to talk to him about anything,' she tells him.

Brandon smiles at her. 'Good, I'm glad you've worked through it, because you look beautiful tonight and I want to spend this great night before school starts with you and just be happy,' he says.

She smiles at him and wraps her arms around his neck.

'Brandon, you are so cute,' she says as she kisses him.

_The Camp_

'Okay, I'm done with this pretzel game. I keep eating my winnings,' Brenda says as she gets up off the ground to get something to drink from the cooler.

Brandon and Kelly make their way back to the camp. Kelly walks over to where Brenda is standing with Donna and Brandon makes his way over to where Dylan is sitting.

'She okay, man?' Dylan whispers to Brandon.

Brandon puts his hand out to high-five Dylan and says, 'Yeah, it's cool.' Dylan takes his hand and nods his head at Brandon.

Kelly walks up to Brenda and moves to give her a hug. Brenda puts her arms around her friend and closes her eyes.

'Bren, I am really happy for you. I'm sorry if it seemed like I kind of checked out there for a while. I guess I was just really unsure about the whole thing with Brandon and I was just trying to get some confirmation that I was really not as bad of a person that I thought I was,' she says.

'Thanks, Kel, and I'm glad you're back to normal. You were starting to scare me,' Brenda says as she embraces Kelly again. Donna throws her arms around both of them and squeezes them together.

'I love you guys,' Donna says.

'We love you too, Donna,' Brenda and Kelly say at the same time. They all start laughing at each other.

Donna walks over to sit with Sean, Jason, and Lily, while Brenda and Kelly join Dylan and Brandon.

'Well, guys, we have a little over 24 hours before we start our sophomore year of college. I don't know about you guys, but I am psyched,' Steve says.

'I am too, I think this year is going to be great,' Andrea says.

'The only thing I'm psyched about is hearing if I got a part in any of the plays I auditioned for,' Brenda says.

'Oh, yeah, when are you going to hear about that?' Kelly asks.

'Monday afternoon. I don't know how I'm going to make it through the next two days,' Brenda replies.

'I have a few ideas,' Dylan says as he leans down and kisses her on the neck.

'Why do I suddenly feel like I'm in high school again,' Steve says. 'Can't you two give it a rest for like 10 minutes straight?'

Brenda turns her head up and begins to passionately kiss Dylan. She continues to kiss him and slowly brings her arm up and raises her middle finger in the direction of Steve.

Donna begins to laugh and then everyone joins in.


	17. Chapter 17

_The Time of Our Lives__ – Chapter 17 – Brenda hears news of her auditions and the gang starts their sophomore year _

With all of her secrets behind her, Brenda smiles as she gets ready for the first day of school. Dylan was coming to pick her up and drive them to school and she couldn't be happier that they had finally broken the news to everyone.

She hears him pull up and honk the horn outside. She hurries into her room to grab her schoolbag and runs down the stairs to meet him.

'Bye Mom!' she yells as she runs out the front door.

'Bye, honey, have a good day!' she barely hears Cindy calling back at her.

She gets in the car and leans over to kiss Dylan.

'Hey, baby,' he says, 'ready for this?'

'Let's do it,' she says with a smile.

'Well, if you wanted to do it, you should have told me, I would have showed up earlier,' he says with a smirk.

Brenda smiles at him and shakes her head, 'To school, Mr. McKay, to school,' she says back to him.

He wrinkles his face at her and pulls out of the driveway.

Brenda is excited to attend her first acting class at CU and is very excited that she actually got most of the classes that she wanted this time around. She decided that being in poetry class with Dylan was interesting and fun at the same time, so they actually enrolled in another poetry class together.

'So, I'll see you at 2:30 for class, okay?' he says as he kisses her outside of the theatre.

'Okay, wish me luck in my first college acting class,' she says.

'I would, but you don't need it, babe,' he says.

She smiles at him and enters the theatre. She sees a few of the people that were in 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' with her in the class and goes to sit down next to them.

'Hey, Brenda,' one of them says.

'Hey, Todd, I'm glad I actually know someone in this class,' she says.

'Yeah, me too, I was beginning to wonder whether I'd ever get an acting class on my schedule,' he admits.

'Yeah, I had the same thought,' she says.

'Did you get any others?' he asks her.

'Yeah, I'm in the Shakespeare class too. Did you?'

'I got locked out of Shakespeare, but I did make it into the Japanese theatre training class,' he says.

'Oh, that's sounds interesting. I really hope that I get into the performance art class next semester. I really want to learn how to carry a show by myself. It's a little scary to be the only one up on the stage, but exciting at the same time,' she says.

'Totally, I'm hoping to get into that one too,' he says.

'Okay, people, let's settle down,' the professor says loudly. 'Welcome to Acting I. We will be learning a lot of technique and understanding of different kinds of characters during this semester in this class. There are a few announcements I'd like to make. As part of the curriculum for this class, you are required to act in scenes chosen by the Directing I students. They will be putting on two sets of directing scenes this semester and they will be coming to this class to choose actors to help them out,' he explains.

Brenda and Todd look at each other and smile. 'Well, looks like we'll be acting our brains out this semester,' he whispers to her.

Brenda gets through her first two classes in the theatre. She really enjoyed her Shakespeare class and can't wait to get started on memorizing the monologue they received today.

She makes her way over to the campus café for some coffee and sees Donna and Kelly sitting at a table.

She brings her coffee over to the table and sits with them.

'Hey guys, how's your first day going?' she asks.

'Great, I really love the art class I got into and my interior design class starts in a half an hour, so we'll see how that goes,' Donna says.

'I've just finished with my Social Psychology class and I think it's going to be interesting,' Kelly says.

'Great, I've just had my first two acting classes and I love them already,' Brenda says with a huge smile on her face.

'Bren, the director from the Beverly Hills Art Center called me this morning and asked that I come down the theatre this afternoon to talk about the play. I'm so excited!' she says.

'Oh, good, Donna, that's great news. I think you are really going to enjoy it!' Brenda says.

Brandon and Dylan walk up to where the girls are sitting. Dylan leans down and kisses Brenda and then sits next to her.

'Hey, girls, how are we doing this fine morning?' Brandon asks.

'Brandon, it's 12:45pm, it's not morning anymore,' Donna says.

'I'm just excited to be back here and striving to be all I can be,' he says. They all laugh at him.

'Well, I better go if I want to make it across campus before my class starts,' Donna says.

'I'll come with you, I'm going that way myself,' Brandon says. He gives Kelly a quick kiss and walks off with Donna.

'I better start walking too, want to come?' Dylan asks Brenda. She looks at him and smiles.

'Sure,' she says, 'Bye Kel.'

'Bye guys,' she says.

Brenda walks Dylan over to where his next class is being held.

'So, how's your day going?' he asks.

'Better now,' she says as she puts her arms around his neck and begins to kiss him.

'Ooh, my thoughts exactly,' he smiles at her. 'I'll see you later, okay?'

Brenda nods at him and goes to sit on one of the benches outside. She rifles through her bag for the monologue from Shakespeare class and starts to read through it and make notes on her pad.

'Talking to yourself again?' Dylan asks her as he walks up to where she is sitting after his class.

Brenda looks up from the monologue that she had been practicing. 'Just practicing,' she says and smiles at him.

'Are you ready for the fantastic journey we are about to take through the wonderful world of poetry?' he asks her with a smirk.

'Ug, I can't believe you talked me into taking another poetry class,' she says.

'Come on, it'll be fun,' he says. He gets up and puts his hand out for her to take. She puts her papers back in her bag, grabs his hand, and starts walking with him to their class.

_Casa Walsh_

'So, how was your first day of classes?' Cindy asks Brenda as she comes into the kitchen after putting her books down.

'Pretty good, I had my two acting classes today and then poetry,' she says as she makes a face at the word 'poetry.'

'Eventually you will learn to appreciate the fine art that is poetry, honey,' she says.

'Yeah, well, I hope so, or Dylan's going to be doing my homework too,' she says.

'The theatres called today to say that the cast lists have been posted,' Cindy tells her.

'Really? All of them?' Brenda says with nervousness and excitement.

'Yes, all of them,' Cindy says and smiles at her daughter's reaction.

Brenda immediately gets off of the stool and goes to the phone. She dials Dylan's number and when he answers says, 'Dylan, the cast lists have been posted. Will you take me?'

'I'll be right there,' he says.

'Oh my God, Mom, this is so exciting!'

_The Peach Pit_

Steve, Andrea, Donna, Kelly, and Brandon await the arrival of Brenda and Dylan. Brenda had called and said that the cast lists were up and they were going to see whether she had gotten any of the parts she auditioned for. She asked them if they would get together and wait for her as she was so nervous and she would need her friends if she didn't get a part.

Donna looks at her watch and then up at the door.

'Waiting for something Don?' Kelly asks.

'Yeah, Jason, Lily, and Sean are supposed to be here too. They had their first day of work today and I invited them to come along and hear Brenda's news,' she says. As soon as the words come out of her mouth, they walk through the door and look around the diner for her.

They make their way over to the table and sit with them.

'Hi guys,' Lily says.

'Hey, how was your first day?' Donna asks them.

'Oh, it was great. It's going to be a lot of work, but all in all, we had a great time meeting everybody,' Sean says.

'How was your meeting with the director?' Jason asks Donna.

'It went okay, I guess. He's a really nice guy and said that my excitement and enthusiasm will be great assets to helping out with the play. He gave me a list of costumes pieces and props that they didn't have in storage, so I have to go looking around to see if I can find them anywhere,' she says with excitement.

'That's great, Donna,' Jason says. 'Let us know if we can help.'

She smiles at him as Brenda and Dylan come through the door. They walk over to the gang and they all sit in silence looking at her with anticipation.

'So?' Steve asks.

Brenda stands in front of them holding Dylan's hand. She looks up at him and then back at her friends.

'The part of Martha is all mine!' she announces and plasters a huge smile on her face.

Brandon gets up and hugs her. 'Congratulations, Brenda! That's great!' he says.

'Which play is that?' Donna asks.

''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' Brenda answers.

The gang starts clapping for her and she takes a few bows.

'I am so excited. The director and the producer that I had met in London were there and they were so glad that I had auditioned,' Brenda says as she sits down at the table with them.

'Congrats, Brenda, I'm so happy for you,' Lily says.

'Thanks, Lily. I couldn't have done it without you guys!' she says.

'So, when does this thing start?' Brandon asks.

'Rehearsals start on Thursday night. Do you guys want to read over the parts with me? It would help if I could have people reading the other parts, just to see how it plays out?' Brenda asks Lily, Sean, and Jason.

'Oh, yeah, absolutely, I'll help you,' Sean says right away.

'Totally, I'm in,' Jason says as Lily nods her head.

'Great! How what time are you guys free tomorrow?' she asks.

Dylan stares down Jason and Sean, unbeknownst to them, but gets caught by Brandon staring back at him when he finally looks up and meets Brandon's eyes.

'We are done at around 6pm tomorrow. Where do you want to meet up?' Lily says.

'You guys can use my house if you want,' Dylan pipes up quickly into the conversation. Brenda looks at him and smiles.

'Thank you, Dylan,' she says and kisses him.

'No problem,' he says and kisses her again. Brandon looks at Dylan after he finishes kissing his sister. He narrows his eyes a little trying to figure out why Dylan was as forthcoming with his house as a rehearsal space. Dylan meets his eyes, sees the look on Brandon's face, and quickly winks at him.

Brandon nods his head and smiles a little.

'Why are smiling Brandon?' Kelly asks him.

'Oh, it's nothing, ready to go?' he asks.

'Yeah, let's get out of here,' she says as they get up from the table.

'See you guys,' Brandon says. He takes Kelly's hand and leads her out of the Pit.

'I'm too excited to eat,' Brenda says as she looks at Dylan and raises her eyebrows.

'Right, let's go,' he says, 'Bye guys.' He shuffles Brenda out of the Pit as she waves back at her friends.

'Well, the couples have left us. You guys hungry, because I am starving,' Steve says.

Donna nods her head emphatically and sees Jason doing the same thing.

'Good, let's eat. Some service over here, Nat?' Steve says loudly.

'Yeah, yeah, I'm coming,' Nat yells back.

_Dylan's house_

Brenda and Dylan walk into his house. She immediately tackles him onto the couch and start kissing him ferociously. He tries to wrap his arms around her, but she grabs his wrists, pulls them up above his head and holds them there. She kisses his neck, his cheek, and then his lips.

'Geez, Bren, you must be really excited,' he says. She gives him a huge smile and licks her lips.

He frees his hands from her grip, grabs her body and sits up. He stands, picks her up and starts kissing her. She wraps her legs around his body and her arms around his neck as he walks them slowly to the bedroom.

She starts taking off his shirt before they even reach the bedroom, lifts it over his head and drops it on the floor.

He moans into her mouth and lays her gently on the bed. She takes her own shirt off and throws it across the room. He leans down and kisses her neck as she wraps her legs back around his body and presses them together.

Brenda lies in Dylan's arms, glistening with sweat after their love-making session. She looks up at him and pushes the hair that had fallen onto his forehead back.

'You are so beautiful,' he says and kisses her on the forehead.

'I love you, Dylan. Thank you for being so supportive of me,' she says.

'I love you too, baby,' he says and pulls her closer. 'And just so you know, if you're going to act like this every time you ace an audition, then we better start making some phone calls,' he says.

Brenda laughs at him. 'One show at a time, Dylan, okay?'

_Kelly's Beach Apartment_

Brandon and Kelly walk into her beach apartment after coming back from the Peach Pit.

'Is it weird without David here?' Brandon asked her.

She nods and says, 'A little, I mean, Donna's definitely happier with him gone, but I don't want him to feel like he doesn't have any friends. I invite him every time I'm going to hang out with everyone, but he always says that he's got something to do.'

'He's in the dorms now right? Maybe I'll find out where he's living and drop by or something,' Brandon says.

'That would be so nice of you. You're so sweet,' Kelly says as she walks over to Brandon and puts her arms around his neck.

'Thank you,' he says and kisses her.

'Brandon, do you think there's anything going on with Donna and Jason? Have you seen the way they look at each other?' Kelly asks him.

'To tell you the truth, Kel, I haven't noticed nor have I been looking for it,' he says.

She smiles and begins to walk backwards toward her bedroom. He inches closer to her and she quickens her pace. He breaks into a sprint to catch up with her and does at the doorway to her bedroom.

He puts his arms around her and kisses her. They move into her room and Brandon kicks the door shut with his foot.


	18. Chapter 18

_The Time of Our Lives__ – Chapter 18 – Donna searches for costumes, Brandon tries to find David, and Brenda rehearses_

Donna fumbles with her keys as she tries to open the door to the beach apartment. The door opens and she almost drops the bags that she had in her hand.

'Don? Are you okay?' Kelly asks.

'Hey, Kel, can you grab these before I drop them?' Donna asks, holding her arm out to Kelly.

Kelly grabs the bags that are in Donna's hand and helps her into the apartment. They drop the bags on the living room couch and Donna sits down and sighs with exhaustion.

'Geez, Donna, what the hell is all of this stuff? I haven't even heard of some of these stores,' Kelly says poking through the bags.

'It's stuff for the play. I had to go to a bunch of thrift stores and flea markets to find it,' Donna says as Kelly makes a disgusted face at her.

'I know, I know, I think I need a shower now. The only good thing is that I think I got everything on the list, plus a few other things I saw that I think would be perfect for the show,' Donna says with some excitement.

'That's great, I'm glad you're enjoying this and that you could find everything you needed,' Kelly says. 'By the way, Jason called while you were out. He said that he was on his lunch break and that he wanted to know how you were doing,' she says and raises her eyebrows.

'Oh, really? That's nice of him,' Donna says oblivious to Kelly's tone.

Kelly shakes her head and smiles at her friend. 'Well, I have to go to class, I'll see you later, okay?'

'Okay, see you,' Donna says as Kelly grabs her books and heads out of the door.

Kelly makes her way up to the campus and parks her car. She starts to walk up to the Psychology building when she sees Brandon roaming around.

'Brandon, are you lost?' she yells at him.

He smiles at her and walks over to where she is standing. 'Hey,' he says and kisses her.

'Hey, what are you doing out here on this side of campus?' she asks.

'Well, I wanted to see if I could drop by David's room. I found out where he's living, the only problem is, I can't seem to find it anywhere. I really have no idea where the dorms are on this damn campus,' Brandon says jokingly.

Kelly laughs at him and takes the paper from his hand. She looks at where he is supposed to be and points in that direction.

'Over there is his dorm, second building to the left of the parking lot. Good luck, Brandon, I have to go to class now,' she says. She kisses him and pushes him the direction of David's dormitory.

'Thanks, Kel!' he says.

He walks over to building that she pointed out to him. He looks at the name on the plaque outside of the building and matches it up with the name written on the piece of paper in his hand.

He opens the door and walks in to find David's room. He knocks on the door, hoping that after all of this run around to find it, that David was actually in his room.

'Come in!' he hears from inside the room.

Brandon slowly opens the door and calls into the room, 'David?'

He sees a head pop up from one of the beds on the other side of the room.

'Brandon? What are you doing here?' David asks.

'Hey, David, I thought I'd come and visit your new place,' Brandon says as he walks further into the room.

'Oh, yeah, well, here it is,' David says as he waves his hand around the small dormitory room.

'It's not that bad,' Brandon says looking around the room.

'Yeah, well, what do you know? I had to leave a very spacious apartment to move into this dump and you still live at home with your parents,' David says, dejected.

'Come on, David, we miss you. Why haven't you been around lately?' Brandon asks.

'You know why I haven't been around, man. Donna will never forgive me for what I did, and I don't think that I have any right to expect that she will.'

'David, you're our friend too. I know it happened a while ago, but have you talked to anyone about it?' Brandon asks.

'Not really, Brandon, there isn't really that much to say. I cheated on Donna and she broke up with me. It's pretty cut and dry,' he says.

'I'm sorry, I guess I'm just surprised that you would give her up that easily, that's all,' Brandon says as he makes his way to the door.

'Don't be a stranger, David. We care about you too,' Brandon says and walks out of David's room.

David sighs heavily and drops back down onto the bed.

_Dylan's House_

Brenda paces back and forth in Dylan's living room with the script in her hand. Dylan sits kitchen table reading from his poetry book, trying to analyze one of the sonnets for class.

He watches her expressions as she reads the play and paces back and forth. Her face seems to rapidly change from smiling to confusion to anger and then back to smiling. There is a knock at the door a few minutes later and Brenda comes out of her pacing routine to answer it.

Sean, Lily, and Jason are standing on the other side of the door when she opens it.

'Hey, Brenda,' Lily says.

'Hi guys, thanks for coming and helping me out with this,' Brenda says.

'No problem,' Sean says and gives her a huge smile.

She hands them copies of the script that she made and they sit on the couch.

'Have any of you ever read this play before or seen the movie?' Brenda asks.

They all shake their heads.

'Okay, me either, but I figured we could read through it and then if you have time, Dylan was nice enough to go out and get the movie for us,' Brenda says as she looks up at Dylan.

Dylan smiles at her and waves to the group sitting on his couch.

'So, Lily, you're going to be playing Honey, obviously, and you guys can fight it out between George, Martha's husband and Nick, Honey's husband,' Brenda says.

'Jay, why don't you take George?' Sean offers.

'Sounds good, let's get started,' Jason says.

The four of them begin to read through the play together. Dylan tries to concentrate on the sonnet in front of him, but gets interrupted every time one of them yells out loud.

'_There is a lot of angst in this play, geez.'_

After two hours of listening to them read lines out loud, Dylan lets out a big sigh of relief when they are finally done.

Brenda walks over to where he is sitting and drapes her arm around his shoulder. She leans down when he looks up at her and kisses him. He thought that he might have seen tears in her eyes, but he couldn't be sure.

'Do you guys want to take a break and then watch the movie, or is it too late?' Brenda asks as they all get up and stretch themselves.

'I think we're going to take off. I think Donna is going to meet us at the Peach Pit in a little while and I definitely need a shower before I see her,' Jason says, trying to smell himself.

Dylan and Brenda exchange looks with each other as the three of them make their way out of Dylan's house.

'Well, that is certainly an interesting play you've gotten yourself into,' Dylan says as he takes the script from her hands and flips through it.

'Yeah, it's really intense. There are so many innuendos and secrets in the beginning that play all of the way through the end. It's going to be really hard. Martha is a really complex character,' Brenda says to him.

'Well,' he says, pulling her into his lap, 'I'm sure that you will be brilliant.' He kisses her as she wraps her arms around him.

'What do you want to do for dinner?' Brenda asks him.

Dylan raises his eyebrows at her and she giggles at him. He tightens his grip around her and attacks her mouth with his. She responds quickly and starts kissing his face and then moves down to nibble on his neck. He moans out loud and shifts her so that he can stand up. He picks her up in his arms and spins her around while kissing her. He begins to walk slowly backward toward the bedroom as she pushes him in that direction.

_Roundhouse Theatre_

Brenda arrives at the theater for her first rehearsal with the cast. She introduces herself to the other actors and the stage manager.

'Okay, guys, I am so happy that we have cast this show and are ready to get started. Now, let's go around and introduce ourselves and give a little background,' the director says.

'I'm Joe and I'll be playing the part of Nick. I've worked on a few shows here at the Roundhouse and am really excited to be a part of this play.'

Brenda looks at Joe as he introduces himself. He is handsome and has quite a boyish face, but Brenda can tell that he's probably a few years older than she is.

'Hi everyone, I'm Kate and I'll be playing Honey. I haven't had a whole lot of experience in the theatre, but I worked on a few plays in high school and thought I'd audition for this one.'

'I'm Chris and I'll be playing George. I've been performing in community and professional theatre for about 10 years now and have never had the opportunity to do this play. I am really excited to explore this crazy world with all of you.'

Brenda notices that Chris is quite older than the rest of them, but still strikingly handsome.

'Hi, I'm Brenda and I'll be playing Martha. I performed in 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' as Maggie last year for Roy Randolph and then spent the summer in London at the RADA program for actors,' she says confidently. She sees Kate's eyes widen and Chris nod his head.

'Great, okay, so, let's get started. Let's read through the play. I'm probably going to stop at points and explain my vision of what these scenes look like as we go through. Okay, Brenda, start us off,' the director stays.

Dylan waits in his car outside of the theatre for Brenda's rehearsal to be over. A few minutes later she comes out of the theatre talking with a few other people. She waves to them as they walk toward their cars and she gets into Dylan's car.

'Hey,' she says with a yawn.

'How was your first rehearsal?' he asks her as he drives away from the theatre.

'Intense. We read through the play and the director talked about his vision for how he wants to stage it and how he sees these characters. It was a good rehearsal, but I'm beat,' she says.

'Well, are you hungry? Did you eat before you came down here?' he asks her.

She shakes her head at him and yawns again.

'Okay, we're going to get some food in you and then put you to bed,' he says.

She nods and leans her head against the door as he drives. She closes her eyes and rests her head against her arm until the car stops.

'Come on,' Dylan says.

They walk into the Peach Pit and sit down. Brandon comes over to their table when he sees them come in.

'Hey, Bren, how was rehearsal?' Brandon asks her.

'Great, it was really great. I definitely need to see the movie though. Apparently, Elizabeth Taylor is amazing as Martha and even the director said it would give me a good starting point with this character if I saw it,' she says.

'Well, let's get some food and see about watching that movie then, huh?' Dylan says. She smiles at him and nods her head.

'The usual, Bran,' Dylan says as he sees Brenda lay her head down on her arm on the table. 'Uh, you better make that to go.'

Dylan waits for their food while drinking a cup of coffee. Brandon walks over and hands him the bag.

'Man, she's really asleep, huh?' Brandon says. Dylan nods at him.

'Yeah, let's hope I can get her to eat before she totally passes out,' Dylan says. 'I'll see you later.'

Dylan rubs Brenda's arm gently. 'Bren, time to go,' he says softly. She rouses herself and opens her eyes slowly. She looks around the Peach Pit, trying to figure out where she is and settles her gaze on Dylan.

He puts his hand out for her to take and helps her up. 'Goodnight, Brandon,' she says as Dylan leads her out of the diner.

Dylan drives them back to his house and helps her inside and to the couch.

'I'm going to get some plates and stuff, don't lay down, okay?' he says. He sees her nod her head at him as he makes his way to the kitchen.

They sit in the living room, watching late night television, and eating their food. Brenda yawns several times while she is trying to eat. When they are done, he puts his arm around her and she cuddles up next to him.

'I don't think it's a good idea to watch the movie tonight. I'm so tired,' she says.

'Yeah, I agree, since you tend to fall asleep during movies anyway,' he says, teasing her.

'I'm not the only one,' she says, teasing him back.

They sit on the couch watching television and when the show is over Dylan looks down and sees that Brenda has fallen asleep on him. He smiles down at her and shakes his head.

He leans down and kisses the top of her head, trying to get her to wake up. He shakes her a little and she begins to wake up.

'Bren, it's getting late,' he says.

'Mmmmmm,' she responds.

'Aren't you going to freak out on me and yell that you're going to miss your curfew?' he asks her, trying to get her to sit up.

'No curfew,' she mumbles.

Dylan stares back down at her with a confused look on his face. 'What do you mean 'no curfew'?'

Brenda finally lifts her head off of his chest and opens her eyes a little bit. 'Hand me the phone,' she says sleepily. Still confused, Dylan reaches over to the table and hands her the phone.

She dials with her eyes half-open. 'Hey, Brandon,' she says, half asleep.

'Bren? Were you sleeping?'

'Yeah, I'm going to stay here and continue to sleep, okay?' she says.

'Hang on, let me tell them,' Brandon says as she hears him walk down the steps. 'Mom, Brenda's at Dylan's and is already asleep. She's going to stay over there tonight and come back in the morning,' he explains to his mother who is also half asleep on the couch in the Walsh house.

'Is she on the phone?' Cindy asks. Brandon nods and hands his mother the phone.

'Brenda?'

'Hi,' she says.

'You are being a responsible adult, right? I mean, I know you're in college and everything, but don't forget the rules,' Cindy warns her daughter.

'Yes, I am and I promise I won't,' she says.

'Okay, well, will you be home for breakfast?'

'Yes, I will.'

'Okay, be careful and responsible,' Cindy reiterates.

'Goodnight,' she says.

Dylan stares at her the entire time she is on the phone with an incredulous look on his face. Brenda turns the phone off and hands it back to him.

'Did I just hear what I think I just heard?' he asks her.

She smiles at him and nods her head. 'College rules are different than high school rules,' she says and gets up off of the couch.

She helps him up and leads him to the bedroom. Dylan walks behind her, still stunned at the fact that she actually got permission to stay at his house overnight.

'Well, look like we're going to have to make the best of our first official approved sleepover then, aren't we?' Dylan says to her with a wicked smile.

'Oh,' she says as he takes her in his arms and begins to kiss her.


	19. Chapter 19

_The Time of Our Lives__ – Chapter 19 – Brenda rehearsals become intense and David decides that it's time to get Donna back_

Brenda tries to stay awake as she drives herself back to her house after rehearsal. They had been rehearsing for a few weeks now and as much as she was enjoying the play and being apart of it, it was taking a toll on her.

She pulls into the driveway of her house, grabs her books and her script and makes her way inside.

'Another late night, Brenda?' Jim asks as she comes through the door.

She looks over at her father, who is in his pajamas, sitting on the couch, watching television.

'Yeah, now off to do my homework,' she says and walks slowly up the stairs to her room. She pulls out her notebooks to see what was due tomorrow. She had been having a little bit of trouble memorizing her lines for the play, her lines for the two directing scenes that she was picked for, and her lines for her Shakespeare class at the same time. She tried to convince one of the directors to switch their scene to something from 'Virginia Woolf,' but was unsuccessful.

Brandon knocks on the open bathroom door. Brenda shifts some papers around and then looks up at him.

'Bren, you look like hell,' he says.

'Thanks, Brandon, you're so kind,' she says back to him.

'You okay, Bren?' he asks sincerely.

'I'm not sure. I've got a several hundred lines to memorize, poetry I don't even understand to analyze, and an English paper to write and somehow need to find time to eat and sleep,' she says exasperated.

'And find time for that special someone,' Brandon prompts.

Brenda sighs loudly. 'Yeah, that too. God, Dylan must hate me right now. I haven't seen him since class on Monday, since Wednesday's class was cancelled,' Brenda says.

'I'm sure he doesn't hate you. He told me so when I saw him tonight at the Pit, but you might want to let him know that you're still alive. He's worried about you,' Brandon says and pats her on the back.

Brenda nods at him and reaches over to grab the phone. 'Thanks, Brandon,' she says as she dials Dylan's number.

He answers on the third ring. 'I'm still alive,' she says into the receiver, without even saying hello.

'Either I'm dreaming that I'm hearing your voice, or you really do exist somewhere,' he teases her.

'Dylan, I'm sorry, with rehearsals for Virginia Woolf, the two directing scenes, and trying to finish the rest of my homework, I just haven't had a free moment this week. I promise I'll make it up to you,' she says.

'Oh, do you now? When?' he asks.

'Well, next weekend I actually have a break from rehearsal, since the director wants to work with the other couple, so how about we take off and go somewhere for a day or two?' she suggests.

'Now, that sounds like a good plan to me. I'm not sure, but you might have to be making it up to me all that weekend and maybe even after that,' he says.

Brenda laughs at his comment. 'We'll see about that,' she says. 'Okay, I'm sorry, but I really have to go if I want to have a prayer of finishing all of this work by tomorrow morning. I'll see you in class, okay?' she says.

Dylan sighs softly to himself. 'Yeah, okay, see you tomorrow then,' he says as he hangs up the phone.

Dylan walks back over to the couch and throws himself down on it. He lies down and stares up at the ceiling. _'I wonder if she would have even thought to call me if I hadn't asked Brandon to say something to her tonight.'_

Brenda finishes up her work around 3:30am. She closes the poetry book and her notebook that contains her analysis of the latest poem. She gets off of her bed and puts her books on her desk. She yawns as she changes her clothes and gets into bed. She sets her alarm for the next morning and drifts off to sleep.

Brenda wakes up to the shrilling of the alarm clock. She opens her eyes slowly, shuts off the alarm, and starts to get out of bed. She grabs her head to try to ward off the headache that is about to come from not getting enough sleep and makes her way into the bathroom.

She walks quickly to the theatre on campus with a giant cup of coffee, hoping that she doesn't screw up today's scenes because she's so tired.

Brenda goes through the first part of the day seemingly unscathed. She sits outside the building where the poetry class is held and closes her eyes to take in the afternoon sun.

'Hey stranger,' she hears. She opens her eyes and sees Dylan in front of her. He looks down at her and sees the dark circles and puffiness around her eyes. He sits down and takes her hand.

'Bren, please don't take this the wrong way, but you don't look so good,' he says to her.

Brenda nods her head, closes her eyes again and leans her head on his shoulder. He puts his arm around her and kisses the top of her head.

'Dylan, I'm so tired. I really love acting, but two acting classes, two directing scenes, and a community show at the same time is just killing me,' she whines.

'I know, baby. It's going to be okay. You are going to get through this, I promise. I'll help you, but you just have to remember to call me,' he says and squeezes her to him.

Brenda lifts her head off of his shoulder. She puts her hand on the side of his face and smiles at him. 'You are so good to me,' she says and kisses him.

'Don't you forget it,' he says with a smile. 'Now, let's go or we're going to be late.'

Dylan helps Brenda off of the bench and leads her inside, hand in hand, to attend their poetry class.

_The Campus Café_

David walks into the common area and looks around the room, trying to find Brandon. He finally spots him with his nose in a book at one of the smaller tables.

'Brandon?' David asks.

Brandon looks up and sees David. 'Hey, David, have a seat,' he says.

'Uh, thanks, Brandon. Listen, I need your help with something. I'm not sure exactly how to do it and I'm definitely going to need some help in the execution department,' David begins.

Brandon gives David a very confused and slightly surprised look on his face.

David looks at Brandon's face and shakes his head quickly. 'No, no, it's nothing like that, geez Brandon,' David says.

'I have finally come out of my funk, thanks to you. I am not giving Donna up that easily. I love her and I want to be with her forever. I have a plan to try to get her back, but I'm going to need you and a few others to help me,' David explains.

Brandon smiles at him and nods his head. 'Good for you David. Okay, tell me the plan,' Brandon says.

Brenda and Dylan make their way over the table where David and Brandon are sitting after their poetry class.

'Hey guys,' Brenda says.

'Bren, thank God you're here. Sit down,' David says quickly. 'Dylan, I need you too, please sit.'

'David, what's going on?' Brenda asks. 'Are you alright?'

'I have never been better, but I need your help,' David says and starts to explain the plan to her and Dylan.

As David is explaining to Brenda how he plans on getting Donna to forgive him for what he did, she keeps looking at the clock over his head. _'Okay, he's got five more minutes before I have to go to rehearsal for one of the directing scenes.'_

David continues to ramble on about how much he loves Donna and does Brenda think this plan is going to work.

'David, listen, if you love her and actually are really and truly sorry for what you did, then she'll at least listen to you. You have to be honest with her though, and don't be surprised if she doesn't jump right at you, okay? Look, as much as I would really love to sit here and analyze this with you, I have a rehearsal and I really have to go,' Brenda says as she gets up from the table. She moves behind Dylan and drops her head down to kiss him goodbye.

'Am I picking you up at the Roundhouse tonight?' he asks.

'Um, if you want to,' she says.

'I really do,' he says back quickly and grabs the back of her head and starts to kiss her passionately.

'Mmmmm, okay, I should be done down there by 11:30pm. See you later,' she says and takes off out of the café.

'11:30pm? Is that normally the time rehearsals end for her?' Dylan asks Brandon.

Brandon just nods his head and then looks down at the table. 'I'm kind of worried about her,' Brandon admits.

'Yeah, me too. That's why I wanted to pick her up tonight. I mean, I never get to see her anyway, but at least I can ask her what's going on,' Dylan says and gets up. 'Look, I have to get going, talk to you later.'

'See if you can talk some sense into her about accepting some kind of help. I'm not sure what we could do for her at this point, but there's got to be something we could help her with,' Brandon says.

'Yeah, man, I'll get right on that. Later,' Dylan says and walks away.

Brenda spends an hour at her rehearsal for one of the directing scenes she was asked to participate in.

'Good job tonight guys, it's really coming together and I think will be totally ready for the show next week,' her director says.

Brenda smiles at the fact that she actually thought she did a fantastic job that night and was really proud of what she had accomplished.

'Brenda, are you coming?' Todd asks.

Brenda looks up at him and says, 'Oh, yeah, sorry, I'm coming. Thanks for giving me a ride, Todd, I really appreciate it.'

'It's not a problem, the Roundhouse is on my way home,' he says with a smile.

They walk to his car and get in.

Brenda says goodbye to Todd and thanks him again for the lift. She walks into the theatre and sits in the audience seats. She pulls a sandwich out of her bag and begins to eat it as she waits for her next rehearsal to begin.

'Brenda, you're here a little early. How are you doing?' the director asks her.

With a yawn, Brenda answers, 'Exhausted and hungry.'

'Yeah, you look it,' he says.

'Listen, you are sure you don't need me next weekend right? I promised my boyfriend that we'd finally get to spend some time with each other and I want to make sure that I don't have to back out of that,' she says.

'Nope, you are free as a bird next weekend,' he says. 'Enjoy your dinner, I'll see you in 15 minutes,' he says as he walks down toward the stage.

Brenda makes her way out of the theatre after rehearsal is over. Chris and Brenda are the last ones out and she waves to him as she walks over to where Dylan is parked.

'I'm so sorry. Rehearsal ran a little late. Why didn't you come in and wait inside?' she asks him.

Dylan looks at her for a few seconds. 'I didn't want to disturb you guys. Don't worry, Bren, you're only 45 minutes later than you said you were going to be.'

'Dylan, I'm sorry. I have no control over that. There's nothing I could have done,' Brenda pleads with him.

'I know, Bren,' he says and starts the car. He pulls away from the theatre and drives directly to her house.

He pulls up the driveway and shuts the car off.

'Bren, do you think, maybe, you're taking on a little too much? I mean, is there something I or Brandon can help you with? You're tired all of the time and don't really even have time to do anything other than rehearse and do homework,' Dylan says to her.

He looks very concerned and Brenda can see that he's pretty frustrated as well.

'Dylan, I know it seems like a lot, and it is, believe me, but I'm not sure what you or anyone else could do to help me. I'm going to classes, I'm memorizing my lines, I'm doing my homework, and I'm going to rehearsals. The directing scenes will be over by the middle of next week and the play opens in three and a half weeks, so it'll be over soon,' Brenda explains.

'Yeah, but is it going to take you down with it? Bren, there are a lot of people that are really concerned about you,' he says softly.

She takes his hand, brings it up to her mouth and kisses it. 'I know, Dylan, I'm okay for right now. I'm sorry that I don't have a lot of time for you, but it will definitely ease up next week, and we're going away next weekend, right?' she says.

He squeezes her hand, pulls her hand to his mouth and kisses it. 'Yeah, I guess you're right,' he says, trying to believe it himself. 'Next weekend is going to be great,' he says and tries to smile.

She leans over and kisses him. 'It's late, I better go. I've got some work to do before I go to bed,' she says as she gets out of the car and walks up to her house.

'Goodnight, Bren,' he says as she walks away from him.

Dylan sits on his couch after dropping Brenda off. He thinks about sitting in his car waiting for her outside of the theatre. He had actually made his way into the theatre to see what was going on. He had hid behind a column in the last row of seats to watch them rehearse. He was yet again amazed, with how exhausted he knew Brenda was that she could still perform with energy and determination. He couldn't help but smile at watching her act. As the rehearsal wound down, he made his way back out to the car. He didn't want her to know that he was watching her.

He starts to think about their weekend away and a smile creeps across his face.


	20. Chapter 20

_The Time of Our Lives__ – Chapter 20 –Brenda continues to be busy and Dylan tries to help her_

'Bren, when are your directing scenes being performed?' Donna asks. Brenda looks up from her poetry book to meet Donna's gaze.

'Yeah, Bren, I want to see how great the budding directors of CU are,' Kelly says.

'Um, tomorrow night,' Brenda says. 'Are you guys really going to come?'

'Absolutely we are,' Donna says as Kelly nods her head.

'We wouldn't miss it. Come on, Bren, we came to the almost naked play last year, right?' Kelly says.

Brenda smiles at her. 'Yeah, well, there is definitely no nudity in these scenes to worry about.'

'Good,' Brandon says as he comes up to the table where the girls are sitting. 'I don't want to have to bring my blindfold with me, but I will.' He leans down to kiss Kelly.

Brenda looks down at her watch and jumps out of her seat. 'Oh, sorry, guys, I have to go. I'll see you later,' she says and runs out of the café.

'Hot date or something?' Brandon asks.

Donna and Kelly shrug their shoulders at him.

Brenda runs across campus to the theatre for a last ditch rehearsal of her second directing scene before tomorrow night.

She runs up to where the other actors are standing.

'Sorry, guys, I lost track of time and almost didn't make it,' she says, out of breath.

'It's okay, Bren, the director is not even here yet. Man, he better get here soon, because I need to rehearse. This scene sucks and I'm not going up there tomorrow just to look like an ass,' one of the actors says.

'Come on, Matt, the scene doesn't suck,' Brenda tries to assure him.

'Yeah, Brenda's right, the scene doesn't suck, the direction sucks,' Josh says.

Brenda raises her eyebrows at Josh's comment, but agrees with him that the direction for this scene is truly horrific.

The director finally shows up and they run through the scene a few times. Brenda tries as hard as she can to do what he is asking her to do, but the blocking he has set up has her going in circles trying to face the people she is supposed to be talking to. She's thankful that they only run the scene a few times because she was beginning to get dizzy.

'Great job, guys, it's going to be awesome tomorrow. See you then,' the director says as he takes off across campus.

'Okay, I'm seeing stars. There has got to be a better way to do this,' Matt says. He sits down with the script and tries to modify his own blocking to make the scene less confusing.

Brenda, Matt, and Todd spend the next hour working on the scene to make it right.

'Well, it may not be great, but it's good enough,' she says.

'Definitely better than it was,' Todd says as he looks down at his watch, 'Oh, crap, I gotta go. I was supposed to meet my roommate 20 minutes ago. Bye guys,' he says.

Brenda looks at her watch. She waves to Matt as he walks away and makes her way back to the campus café.

She walks over to phone and calls Dylan.

'Hey, I was wondering when you were going to call me,' he says.

'I just finished with the last of the directing scene rehearsals and I just wanted to say hi and hear your voice before I head down to Roundhouse,' she says.

'Bren, do you need anything? I could bring you some food or something?' Dylan asks, a little desperate to see her.

'Um, I have dinner in my bag, but thanks for offering. Besides, I'd only be able to see you for a few minutes,' she says.

'Yeah, alright, well, have a good rehearsal and I'll see you tomorrow night,' he says.

'Okay,' she says, 'Dylan?'

'Yeah?' he says.

'I love you,' she says softly.

'Me too, Bren,' he says and hangs up the phone.

Brenda hangs up the receiver and grabs her stuff. She drives herself over to the theatre to start her rehearsal.

'Brenda, I'm glad you're here early. There are a few things that I think we need to rework from yesterday. I was thinking about them, and I decided that I want to try them a different way,' the director says as soon as she walks into the theatre.

He takes her bag off of her shoulder and leads her up onto the stage where Chris and Kate are standing.

Brenda sighs softly and then tries to pay attention to what he is trying to tell her about Martha's entrance for the scene they worked through yesterday.

After three and a half hours of rehearsal and reworking, Brenda leaves the Roundhouse to drive herself home.

She parks the car in the driveway and makes her way into the house without noticing that Dylan's car was parked outside of her house.

She walks into the house and sees him in the living room with her father watching television.

'Dylan, what are you doing here?' she says.

He gets up off of the couch and walks over to her. He puts his arm around her waist and lifts her up for a kiss. She kisses him and as she goes to put her arm around his neck, drops her bag on the floor.

'I came over to talk to Jim about a few things and thought I'd stay and wait for you to come back. I missed you today,' he says softly.

'Mmmm, I missed you too,' she coos back. 'Actually, I'm very glad you're here,' she says slyly.

Dylan looks down at her with a confused and suspicious look on his face.

'You can help me with this stupid poem,' she says and picks up her bag and goes up to her room. She leaves the door open as she sits on her bed and Dylan sits at her desk.

'So, why didn't Walt Whitman just write stories, I mean, this poem is longer than any short story I've ever read,' Brenda whines.

Dylan laughs at her a little bit. 'Bren, come on, it's nothing like a story. It's poetry, it's got rhythm, style, and class. It's all in the way you read it,' he says.

'Well, then, I definitely don't know how to read it. What's with all of the random half sentences?'

'Bren, don't stop reading at the end of a line, okay? Don't stop until you reach a period. Try it, trust me,' Dylan pleads.

Brenda looks at him and then back down at her poetry book. Jim smiles to himself out in the hallway. He had been listening in on their conversation to make sure that they weren't in her room making out. He almost laughed out loud at Brenda's stubbornness. He slowly backs away down the hall back to his room.

Brenda and Dylan continue to talk about and read the Whitman poem. Brenda starts yawning and as she does she looks over at the clock on her nightstand.

'Oh my God, Dylan, it's 2:30am,' she says and looks up at him.

He looks over at the clock to confirm what she just said. 'Wow, it doesn't feel that late. I guess we got caught up in this poem, huh?' he says with a smile.

Brenda looks over at him and smiles. She gets off of her bed and goes to the door. She looks out into the hallway toward her parent's room and sees the light off. She sees Brandon's desk light still on, but realizes that he has not yet come home.

'Dylan, Brandon's not home yet,' Brenda says.

He gets up and walks over to where she is standing. 'He's probably "studying" with Kelly,' he says as he begins to kiss her neck. She moans into his ear, wraps her arms around his body, and pulls him closer.

'You know Bren,' he whispers into her ear, 'we've never actually done it in your house.'

'Dylan, get that thought out of your head. There is no way we are doing that with my parents right down the hall,' Brenda says firmly.

'We don't have to do it in here, there are plenty of places in your house that they won't catch us,' he says, still trying to convince her.

'No way,' she says, 'think of something else.'

'We can always go down to the car,' he says. Brenda raises her eyebrows at him.

'As romantic as that sounds,' Brenda starts saying.

'Yeah, I know, uncomfortable, right?' he says.

'Yeah and we're not eighteen anymore. Let's just go back to your house and stop playing around,' she says as she grabs the back of his neck and begins to kiss him.

'Damn, Bren,' Dylan says after she finishes assaulting his mouth. 'What about your parents?'

'What about them? If Brandon can stay out all night screwing his head off, then so can I,' she says as she packs up her books, grabs some clothes for the next day and pulls Dylan down the stairs.

Stunned, Dylan follows her down the stairs and out of the front door. They walk down the driveway to his car when they see Brandon's car come around the corner.

'Brandon, where the hell have you been?' Brenda asks him.

'None of your business. Are you coming or going?' Brandon asks her.

She smiles up at Dylan and says, 'Both,' softly to him. Dylan's eyes widen and he grabs her hand and begins to pull her toward his car.

'Um, going,' she says loudly to Brandon as Dylan pulls her away.

Brandon looks at her strangely and then nods his head.

'Mom and Dad are asleep already, so just be quiet, okay?' Brenda tells her brother and continues to let Dylan lead her down the driveway.

'Got it,' Brandon says as he watches her get in Dylan's car and disappear.

Dylan and Brenda stand outside of his front door kissing. With their arms wrapped around each other's bodies, they are oblivious to the fact that they have not yet made it into the house as Brenda begins to take Dylan's shirt off.

Dylan finally parts from Brenda when he feels a chill up his spine from the night air and leans down to where he had dropped the keys on the ground after she tackled him on the front porch. He quickly unlocks and opens the front door and pulls her inside.

She immediately wraps herself around him and starts kissing his neck. He tries as hard as he can to walk backwards to the couch or the bed, but cannot seem to make it that far. Dylan picks Brenda up and sits her down on the side table next to the front door. He pushes the picture frames and the phone out of the way as she wraps her legs around him.

The table begins to shake as they kiss and press their bodies together. Brenda's quick reflexes save the lamp from falling to the floor and shattering. She starts laughing and Dylan picks her up and hauls her to the dining room table. He lays her down on the much sturdier table and leans over and starts to kiss her neck again.

They make love on the dining room table quickly and passionately. Dylan holds Brenda close to him and kisses the top of her head. Brenda sits up, looks around the room, and begins to laugh.

'What are you laughing at?' Dylan asks her. Brenda points to their strewn clothing around the perimeter of the table. Dylan looks up slightly to see a perfect circle of clothes surrounding them.

He smiles at her. 'I missed you,' he says.

Brenda looks back down at him. 'I missed you too. I can't wait to spend the weekend with you, alone, some place where rehearsal doesn't exist,' she says.

'Me too,' he replies.

They get off of the table and head to the bed, leaving the clothes where they fell.

Brenda gets up the next morning with Dylan's arms wrapped firmly around her body. She squirms in his grip and tries to turn herself around to face him. He loosens his grip a little and lets her turn around. She puts little kisses on his face from the cheek bone down to his chin.

He smiles with his eyes still closed. 'You trying to get me excited again?' he says.

She nibbles his chin and then moves down to his neck.

'Bren, don't you have class or something?' he asks. She looks over at the clock and then back at him.

'Mmmm, not for another hour,' she says and goes back to kissing his neck.

Brenda and Dylan finally make it out of his house 45 minutes later and drive up to campus.

She kisses him and then runs up to the theatre. Dylan walks over to the campus café for some coffee and sits down to wait for his class to start.

'Morning, D,' Brandon says as he takes a seat next to Dylan.

'Hey, what's going on?' Dylan asks him.

'Not much,' Brandon says as he yawns.

Dylan follows suit and tries to shake it off.

'Man, this girlfriend business is really cutting into my sleeping time. I think I closed my eyes for like four minutes last night before I had to get up for my class this morning,' Brandon admits.

Dylan smiles, but doesn't look up from the book he is reading.

'Any plans for this weekend, bro?' Dylan asks him.

'Nothing yet, but I think David wanted to get together and talk about his plan for winning Donna's heart back,' Brandon says.

'That sounds like an exciting time. Why doesn't he just walk up to her, tell her how he feels, and then walk away. That way, he gets it off of his chest, she knows where he stands, and if she's going to reject him, she'll have to run after him to do it,' Dylan suggests as he gets up from the table.

'I think he was looking for the more romantic approach. Not everyone can be like you and Brenda,' he says.

'Well, ain't that the truth,' Dylan says. 'See you around.' Dylan gets up from the table and begins walking over to the building where his class is held.


	21. Chapter 21

_The Time of Our Lives__ – Chapter 21 – Brenda and the gang party a little_

Brenda stands backstage watching the scene taking place. She begins to pace back and forth and tries to calm her nerves.

'Two minutes,' the stage manager whispers to them. Brenda paces a little bit faster as she tries to run her lines in her head.

The scene on stage ends to thunderous applause.

'Well, at least there's a full house, right?' Todd says to her.

Brenda nods and smiles at him, and watches the stage crew strikes the set that was on the stage and puts out the set pieces for their scene.

She is kind of glad that the scene she hates the most is up first, that way she can get it over with and focus on the other scene she has to do that night.

'Brenda, let's go,' Matt says as he walks out onto the dark stage with Todd.

'Brenda's scene is up next,' Donna tells Kelly and Brandon.

They sit up in their seats as the scene begins to unfold in front of them. They watch Brenda, Matt, and Todd almost trip over each other as they are crossing the stage and hear muffled giggles from members of the audience.

As much as they had worked on the blocking to make it better, it still wasn't perfect. The scene comes to a close, with Brenda and Matt almost colliding into each other, but barely missing as Matt falls to the ground. Along with applause, there is clearly an audience of laughing students as they make their way off of the stage.

'Oh my God, I am so mortified right now,' Brenda says. 'I can't believe it. They are laughing at us.'

'Bren, are you okay? I didn't hurt you or anything, did I?' Matt says as he puts his arm around her shoulder.

'No, no, I'm fine. Are you okay?' she asks him.

'Nothing a little Ibuprofen and an ice pack won't heal,' he laughs.

Brenda moves quickly to the dressing room to change for her next scene. She brushes out her hair and touches up her makeup after changing her clothes.

'Three minutes, Brenda,' the director of her next scene yells into the dressing room.

'Okay, thank you,' she says.

She tries to pull herself together for her next scene and begins to run those lines in her head. _'Thank God this is an angry scene.'_

She makes her way backstage and meets up with her scene partner, Tyler.

'Can you help me with this?' he asks her and hands her the rope that he's supposed to be tied up with.

She begins to wrap the rope around his hands, wrists, and chest while the scene on the stage ends.

'Ready?' she asks him. He nods and they walk out onto the stage.

Brandon, Kelly, and the gang stand in the back of the theatre waiting for Brenda to come out after the show had ended.

She comes out and walks up the aisle as soon as she sees them. Dylan immediately gives her a hug and kisses her on the top of her head.

'Bren, you were amazing. I really liked that last scene. You were just mean,' Brandon says.

'Yeah, that one was fun to do and the direction actually didn't suck,' she says.

'The other one wasn't that bad, it was just really hard to follow while watching you guys trip over yourselves,' Kelly says.

'Yeah, well, it was like a thousand times worse. Matt, Todd, and I reworked the blocking yesterday so that we wouldn't get dizzy, but there just wasn't enough time to fix it completely,' she explains.

'Well, it's not your grade, right? That guy is definitely going to have some explaining to do,' Dylan says.

'Right, look guys, there's a cast party tonight for the actors, directors, stage crew, and students if you want to go,' Brenda says to them.

'Cast party? Will there be hot drunk females at this party?' Steve asks.

'Most definitely, Steve, remember, these are all drama majors. They can't even have a party without some kind of drama,' Brenda laughs.

'I'm in,' Steve says.

'I think I'm going to go home. I'm tired and I still have some work to do,' Donna says.

'Brandon, do you want to go for a little while?' Kelly asks him.

'Yeah, sure, why not? Let's experience a cast party,' he says. 'Dylan, you coming?'

'Um,' he starts to say as he looks down at Brenda. She is not showing any emotion either way on her face so he can't tell if she'd be upset if he said no.

'Dylan, you don't have to come if you don't want to. I'm really only going to stay for like an hour or two. I still have lines to memorize for 'Virginia Woolf' and a paper to start for my Shakespeare class,' she says.

'I think I'm going to skip out of this one, if you don't mind,' he says.

'I don't mind,' she says and leans her head up to kiss him.

'Okay, well, let's get going to this party, huh?' Steve says. 'Andrea, are you going to join us?'

'Yeah, I think I will,' she says with a smile.

'I'll meet you there, okay? There's something I have to do first,' Brandon says. He gives Kelly a look and she just nods at him.

'Okay,' she says.

Brandon walks out of the theatre with Dylan, as the rest of the group goes down to where the cast party is just getting started.

'What are you doing?' Dylan asks him.

'Going to tell David what's going on,' Brandon says.

'Be careful, man, don't get too involved.'

'I know, but I told him that I'd keep him in the loop and I just think he needs to know that everyone else will be at the theatre, while Donna is home alone,' Brandon says. 'He's been trying to find the right time to talk with her and I don't think he's going to get a better one than this.'

'Alright, good luck, see you later,' Dylan says as he takes off toward his car.

'David, it's Brandon, open the door,' Brandon says.

The door opens and David stands on the other side. 'What's up, Brandon?'

'Look, Brenda and her actor friends are having a cast party tonight,' Brandon starts.

'I'm not going to some stupid party, if that's why you're here, you can just leave now,' David says.

'David, just shut up and listen,' Brandon says firmly. 'Everyone else decided that they were going to go to the party and hang out for a few hours, except for Donna,' he says.

David quickly looks up at Brandon.

'She went back to her house?' David asks him.

'Yeah, and will be there by herself for at least the next two hours,' Brandon says. 'I just thought you might want to know.'

Brandon leaves David standing at the door with his mouth open.

_The Cast Party_

Brenda sits on one of the couches drinking a soda, while she watches Steve try to teach Andrea how to do a shot of some liquor. Kelly walks up and sits down next to her.

'Well, this is quite different than I thought it would be. I mean, there's dancing and drinking just like at the fraternity parties, but there's something different about it,' Kelly says.

'Yeah, there's a kind of scary calm over everything. Don't worry, give it a few minutes, I'm sure that will change,' Brenda says with a smile.

Brandon makes his way down the steps and scans the room to find his friends. He spots Brenda and Kelly talking and walks over to them.

'Ladies, how are we doing so far?' he asks.

'Fine, did you get done what you needed to do?' Brenda asks.

'Yup, all taken care of, so now I'm free to party,' he says.

'You should try this Brandon,' Kelly says, handing him a cup full of something that looks like 7-Up, but smells like Skittles.

'Ug, Kelly, what the hell is this? It smells like liquid sugar,' he says with a slightly disgusted look on his face.

'I'm not sure, some berry schnapps or something. It's really good,' she says, taking a huge swig.

'Brandon, come over here and watch this,' Steve says. Brandon walks over to where Steve and Andrea are standing. He sees two empty shot glasses and a few used lemon wedges.

'Tequila shots? You started Andrea off on tequila, Steve? Come on, isn't that a little cruel?' Brandon asks.

'Not tequila, Brandon, vodka. She ordered it, I didn't do anything. I just taught her how to drink them,' he says.

'I like it. It's fun. I didn't know that there would be skill involved in drinking,' Andrea says as she licks the rim of the glass covered in sugar and downs another one.

'Yeah, well you better slow down a little. Your cheeks are already red,' Brandon says.

Brenda and Kelly wander around the party and Brenda introduces her to some of her actor friends.

'Bren, we're playing Caps in the next room, are you in?' Matt says.

'Not drinking tonight, Matt, but thanks for the offer,' she says.

'What's Caps?' Kelly asks him.

'Are you drinking?' he asks and sees Kelly nod her head. 'Well, then you can be on my team.' He hooks arms with Kelly and leads her into the other room.

Brenda walks over to where Andrea, Steve, and Brandon are standing.

'Kelly just got roped into a game of Caps, so if you want to play some games and drink at the same time, I would suggest moving this little party into the next room,' Brenda says.

The gang makes their way into the other room to see Kelly and Matt sitting on the floor throwing beer bottle caps at a half-filled cup of water about four or five feet away from where they are sitting.

The team they are playing looks to be not very good at this game and when Kelly sinks a cap, she lets out a very loud shrilling laugh.

'I love this game!' she says as she gives Matt a high-five.

'Oh, God, Brandon, I think you may have just lost your girlfriend for the night. This game sucks you in,' Brenda says.

'Brenda, what are they doing over there?' Andrea asks.

Brenda looks over to where Andrea is pointing.

'Ah, looks like High-Low. Don't even think about it, okay? We're going to have to work you up to High-Low if you plan on being able to walk out of here on your own,' Brenda warns.

'Okay, but will you teach me how to play sometime?' Andrea asks her with excitement.

'I promise I will,' Brenda says with a smile.

'Bren, how the hell do you know this much about drinking games?' Steve asks.

'Yeah,' Brandon adds on.

Brenda looks around at her friends sheepishly. 'Look, this isn't the first cast party I've been to and while I was working on 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' a few members of the cast would get together in someone's room, run lines, and play drinking games,' she says.

'Well, looks like Brenda is going to have to teach us a whole lot, since she knows them all, huh?' Steve says. 'So, when's the party?'

'Uh uh, I don't think so,' Brenda says, shaking her head. 'Not only do I not drink very often, but I'm not going to alienate Dylan like that.'

'Well, there will be times when he's not around, so maybe then?' Steve asks her.

'We'll see,' she says and walks back into the other room.

'Brandon, are you watching? Look how well I'm doing!' Kelly says emphatically.

'I see, I see,' he says as he watches her try to aim at the cup.

Brenda comes back to say goodbye to her friends about an hour later. Kelly is still sitting on the floor playing Caps with Matt and Andrea and Steve are the opposing team.

'Well guys, I've got a lot of work to do, so I'm going to take off,' Brenda says.

'Oh, Brenda!' Kelly whines as she tries to get up.

'Don't get up Kel,' Brenda says as she leans down and gives her friend a hug.

'Are you guys alright to get yourselves home?' Brenda asks them.

'We live on campus, so it's just a hop, skip, and a jump for us,' Steve says looking at Andrea.

'I'm not drinking, Bren. I'll be able to take a very inebriated Kelly home later,' he says with a smile.

'Okay, guys, have fun, don't embarrass me, and I'll see you later,' she says.

She makes her way to the dressing room, grabs her books and scripts, and goes out to the car. She drives over to Dylan's house.

She knocks on the door and waits a few seconds for him to come and open it.

'Hey, baby,' he says as he grabs her and pulls her in for a kiss.

'Mmmmm,' she says.

'How was the party?' he asks her.

'Boring as usual, although Kelly and Andrea were having the time of their lives.'

'What do you mean?' he asks her as he pulls her to the couch and sits her on his lap.

'Steve was teaching Andrea how to take Lemon drop shots, at her request, and Kelly has discovered the game of Caps,' Brenda says.

'Oh, that sounds like some good embarrassing photo opportunities right there,' Dylan says.

Brenda smiles at him and leans down to kiss him.

'I can't stay long, I still have work to do,' Brenda says softly to him.

'Why don't you do your work here? I promise I won't bother you,' he says innocently.

Brenda thinks about it for a minute. 'You promise?' she asks him with a serious face.

'I swear I won't bother you until you're done, okay?' Dylan says.

'Okay, let me get my bag from the car,' she says and gets up off of his lap.

She comes back in and sees that Dylan has cleared the dining room table for her to spread out her things.

'Thank you,' she says and kisses him.

'Don't forget about me,' he says and walks back into the living room to read his book.

Brenda works on the outline of the paper she has to write for her Shakespeare class. She lays out her 'Complete Works of Shakespeare' book on the table and begins to thumb through it making notes.

She finishes a few hours later and looks down at her watch to see that it reads 2:15am. She begins packing up her books and papers and puts them back in her bag. She takes her shoes off and walks quietly over to the couch where Dylan is sitting.

She almost laughs out loud at the sight of him completely passed out, sitting with a book in his hands, his legs crossed, and snoring lightly.

She puts her hand on his arm and rubs it gently. 'Dylan?' she says.

He stirs and after a few seconds finally opens his eyes. 'Bren?'

'You fell asleep, come on, you can't be comfortable sitting like that,' she says to him with a smile.

Dylan stretches his arms and legs and then gets up off of the couch.

'What time is it?' he asks her as he walks back to the bedroom.

'After 2,' she says, guiding him.

'Did you get everything done?' he asks.

'Yeah, I did. Thank you for letting me do it,' she says and takes his shirt off. He steps out of his pants and lies down on top of the covers.

She changes into one of his t-shirts and crawls up next to him. He puts his arms around her and falls asleep.


	22. Chapter 22

_The Time of Our Lives__ – Chapter 22 – Brenda and Dylan get some alone time together_

_The Beach Apartment – the night of the cast party_

Donna hears a knock on the door and she moves to answer it. 'Kelly, did you forget your key again,' she says as she opens it.

'I'm not Kelly,' David says.

'David, what are you doing here?' she asks him and takes a step back.

'Is Kelly back early, because there's enough food for her too,' David hears from inside the apartment.

David steps into the apartment and walks past Donna. He sees someone in the kitchen with his back turned to the door. Donna walks quickly past David and stands between him and the kitchen.

'Donna, what's going on?' David asks.

'Nothing's going on, David. What are you doing here?' she asks.

'I came to talk to you. Can we step outside or something?' he asks her.

Donna looks behind her at Jason in the kitchen. He's looking over at them while trying to cut up vegetables for the salad.

'Um,' Donna says and pauses. 'Okay, David, just for a minute though. Jason, I'll be right back.'

He nods at her and watches them walk out the front door.

'Donna, what's going on with you and that guy?' he asks her.

'David, I don't think that's any of your business,' she says and folds her arms across her chest.

David closes his eyes and tries to think of what to say next. He didn't think that Donna would be with anyone when he came over here to talk to her.

'I just thought that we could sit down and talk about what happened and since I know that Kelly is out, I figured this would be a good time to do it,' he says.

'Well, just because Kelly isn't here doesn't mean that I don't have things to do,' Donna says. 'What do you need to say to me, David?'

David looks around and then back at her.

'Will you meet me somewhere, alone, so that we can have a private conversation? I really have some things I need to talk to you about,' he says sincerely.

Donna looks up at him and sees the pain written all over his face. She closes her eyes and shakes her head a little.

'I don't know, David, I'm busy tomorrow,' she says.

'Please, Donna, please?' he begs her.

'Okay, fine, David. We can meet up on Saturday. Where do you want to meet me?'

'How about here? If Kelly's around then we can take a walk on the beach or something,' he suggests.

'Fine, see you then,' she says and goes back inside of the house.

David lets out a sigh and slowly walks back down the walkway.

_Campus – the next day_

Brenda runs out of her last class and down to the parking lot. She turns the car on quickly and drives as fast as she can back to her house. She runs up the stairs and grabs her bags, her script, and a jacket and then runs back down the stairs.

'Mom? I'm ready, can you take me to rehearsal?' Brenda yells into the kitchen.

'Be right there honey,' she hears Cindy say.

Cindy helps Brenda with her bags to the car and drives her over to the Roundhouse Theatre.

'Brenda, now you know I trust you, but please be careful and don't forget,' Cindy says.

'About the rules and to be responsible,' Brenda finishes. 'I know Mom, we will be, okay? I'll call you to let you know that we got there okay, alright?'

'Alright, don't make me worry about you any more than I already do,' Cindy says. 'Have a good rehearsal sweetheart and I'll talk to you tomorrow.'

Brenda leans over and gives her Mom a kiss. 'Thanks Mom, see you on Monday after class,' she says. Brenda grabs her bags out of the car and walks into the theatre.

She drops her bags in the seat in the first row and jumps up onto the stage.

'Hey Brenda,' Chris says to her.

'Hi Chris, how are you doing this wonderful Friday evening?' she says with a huge smile on her face.

'I'm counting down the hours to my free weekend,' he says.

'Me too, I've already got my bags packed and ready to go. You're still able to give me a ride after rehearsal, right?' Brenda asks him.

'Oh, yeah, no problem. Dylan's house is on my way home, it's no big deal.'

'Great, thanks! I'm going to go call him before we start. Be right back,' she says. She runs up the aisle to the payphone in the lobby of the theatre.

'Hey, I just got to rehearsal,' Brenda says when he picks up.

'Okay, I'll be waiting for you. How late do you think you're going to be?' he asks.

'I'm not sure, but it shouldn't be more than three hours. Are you going to tell me where we are going yet?' she asks impatiently.

'Not a chance. Have a good rehearsal,' Dylan says.

'Grrrr, fine. Well, I packed enough for every place we could possibly be going. I'll see you soon, okay?' Brenda says.

'Not soon enough,' Dylan says.

Brenda hangs up and walks back down to the stage to meet up with Chris.

'Has he told you where you're going yet?' Chris asks.

'Nope, he's keeping this a secret from me. I have two bags packed full with all sorts of clothes because I have no idea where we are going. He likes to torture me. I think he enjoys it too much,' Brenda says.

'Sounds like it. Has he done this before?' Chris asks her.

'Yeah, he has,' Brenda smiles thinking of his Valentine's Day surprise. _'Red, warm, and close to the heart. I could have killed him for that one!'_

'Okay, guys, let's get started. We're going to run through it from the top and see how far we get off book, okay?' the director says.

Brenda puts her script with her bags and gets back up on the stage to start the show.

_Dylan's House – about five hours later_

Dylan begins to pace around his house. He keeps picking things up and putting them back down over and over again. He walks into the bedroom and checks his bags for the twelfth time.

'_Where the hell is she? She said that she would be here by now, actually more like two hours ago. I knew I should have gone to pick her up. At least I'd know what was going on!'_

Dylan looks over at the clock. _'Damn, we're going to miss it if we don't leave soon!'_

As the time goes by, Dylan finds himself getting more and more anxious, nervous, and a little bit angry. He tries to rationalize his feelings in his head and tell himself that Brenda would not do this intentionally and that this is not the first time that her rehearsals for this play have run longer than they were supposed to.

'_But why tonight of all nights does your rehearsal have to run long? Damn, why am I so angry?'_

He paces down to the kitchen and back to the living room, looking out the window for a car to pull up to his house. He shakes his head when he doesn't see one and picks up the phone.

'Look, can you just postpone it until tomorrow night? Something came up and we're going to get in pretty late tonight,' Dylan says into the phone.

'I know, I'm sorry, I just didn't think it would be this late,' Dylan pauses. 'I'll pay extra if I have to, thank you so much,' he says. He hangs up the phone and begins to pace the length of his house with his fists clenched tightly.

_The Roundhouse Theatre_

'Okay, guys, sorry to keep you so late, but I really needed to see it again. Chris, Brenda, I will see you guys back here on Monday night. Kate and Joe, I will see you guys back here tomorrow afternoon. Have a good night, guys,' the director says.

Brenda goes over to where she put her watch down and sees that she is over two hours later than she told Dylan she would be.

'Oh my God! Dylan is going to kill me. We were supposed to leave like two hours ago!' Brenda says and begins to panic.

'Brenda, don't worry about it. He'll understand,' Chris says, trying to comfort her.

'We have to go now,' she says and grabs her bags.

Chris drops her off and she walks up the walkway to Dylan's front door. She feels butterflies in her stomach as she turns the door handle and steps into his house.

Dylan had paced his way all the way down to the kitchen and turns around sharply when he hears the door finally open. He can't help the anger rise in his chest and show on his face.

'Dylan, I'm so sorry,' she says and looks down at the floor.

He slowly walks over to her and puts his hands on her shoulders.

'Are you ready to go?' he asks through clenched teeth.

Brenda tries to speak, but can't get a sound to come out of her mouth. She nods her head instead. Her stomach flip-flops and for a brief moment she thinks that she might throw up. She gags a little and closes her eyes.

He walks into the bedroom and grabs his bag. He lifts one of her bags up and walks out to the car with her following. He goes back into the house to grab a jacket and his keys and locks the door behind him.

Dylan drives in silence with a scowl on his face. _'No reason to be this mad at her. It's not her fault. She didn't know what you had planned. It's not her fault.'_

Brenda looks over at Dylan through the corner of her eye while he is driving. She can tell that he's talking to himself because he keeps nodding his head slightly up and down. She decides to let him work it out for himself before prodding into the whole situation.

They barely speak the entire way down to Baja. Dylan was really excited to be able to take her back down to Baja and recreate their first trip together, with the exception of getting stopped at the border.

'_We have two and a half days to make this trip worth it. It's time to turn the tide.'_

'Bren, I'm sorry for being angry. I know that you are trying your best and are really busy with all of the things you have to do. I was frustrated and a little disappointed when you didn't show up on time. I wanted to start this trip off right and happy that we'd finally be able to spend some time together with nothing in our way,' he admits.

Brenda looks over at him as he's talking. She puts her hand on his when he's done.

'I really am sorry for being late, Dylan,' she says.

'I know you are. I had something planned for us to do tonight when we got down here, but I had to reschedule it,' he tells her.

'Oh, Dylan, I'm so very sorry,' she says, disappointed. 'Where exactly are we going?'

'Baja, of course,' he says with a smile. 'It's okay, we'll just do it tomorrow instead.'

Brenda leans in closer to him while he is driving. She kisses him on the neck and blows in his ear.

'I promised that I'd make it up to you right,' she says seductively.

'Bren, there is no way you're doing that to me now, we're not that close to the hotel,' he says.

'Where is your sense of adventure, Mr. McKay? Doesn't this top go up?' she says looking around the car.

He looks over at her to see if she's actually serious and sees a very determined Brenda staring back at him.

'You're serious, aren't you?' he says in disbelief.

She smiles at him and raises her eyebrows. She leans back in and begins to nibble on his earlobe.

'Oh, damn,' he says softly.

He pulls the car over onto the side of the road and parks it. He pushes his seat back and hits the button for the roof as she climbs over the wheel to sit on top of him.

He wraps his arms around her body and pulls her as close to him as he can get her. She continues to assault his neck and ear until he can't help but moan out loud.

She reaches down his back and pulls up his shirt. She stops kissing him long enough to pull it over his head and throws it on the seat next to her. She leans back down and he puts his hand on the back of her head and kisses her with such force she has to rear back for air.

'Wow, you must have been really angry,' she says.

She begins to take her shirt off slowly enough that she hears Dylan growling under his breath.

'You are killing me woman,' he says and tries to help her.

She playfully slaps his hand away from her shirt. 'Oh, no you don't,' she says. She slowly finishes taking her shirt off and wraps her arms around Dylan's neck, as he puts his face into her chest.

Brenda soon realizes how uncomfortable trying to have sex in a car really is.

'Are you alright, Bren?' Dylan asks her.

She smiles down at him. 'Great, I just may have a stiff neck tomorrow. I know that people all talk about having sex in a car, but it really is one of the most uncomfortable places to do it,' she laughs. They dress each other as quickly as possible.

'Well, look at it this way, at least we didn't get a visit from the cops in the middle of it,' he says with a smile.

'Oh, God, I didn't even think about that,' she says.

Dylan starts the car and takes off down the road. They arrive at the hotel in Baja and check in to their room.

'Well, I don't know about you, but I'm beat. This has been one really long horrendous day,' Brenda says. 'Well, right up until the end.'

'I hear you. Come here,' he says and pats the spot next to him on the bed. She walks over and lies down with him.

'I missed you,' he says, kissing the top of her head. 'Don't take this the wrong way, but I can't wait for this play and this semester to be over with.'

'I know, I missed you too,' she says. 'It's almost over.'

'Yeah,' he says. He closes his eyes while tightening his grip around her body. She cuddles into him and sighs.


	23. Chapter 23

_The Time of Our Lives__ – Chapter 23 – Brenda and Dylan enjoy their time together as Brandon learns some life altering news_

Brenda opens her eyes the next morning and sees Dylan sleeping peacefully. She smiles to herself and thinks of how much she loves him. She shifts a little and kisses him on the forehead.

Dylan opens his eyes slowly to see Brenda's smiling face.

'Hey baby,' he says.

'Hey,' she says softly back to him.

He pulls her close and kisses her neck, taking in her scent.

'Can I just tell you how great it is to wake up with you in my arms,' he says.

'Yes, you can,' she says and pulls him in for a kiss.

'Mmmm, it's so great, it makes me not want to get out of bed,' he says and rolls on top of her.

'Oh, well, we'll just have to see what we can do about that,' she says. He drops down quickly and kisses her.

She wraps her arms around him and holds him close while he kisses her lips, cheek, and neck.

After making love, they lay quietly in each other's arms. 'Bren?'

'Yeah?' she says lazily.

'Not that I enjoy when you have so much to do that I don't get to see you, but I have to say that I am enjoying the 'making it up to me' part,' he says with a smile.

Brenda laughs at him and puts her hand on his cheek.

'I love you,' she says and kisses him softly.

'I love you too,' he says. 'Now, let's get up and get going,' he says and starts to get out of bed.

'Do we have to?' she whines.

'Yes, we have to, now let's go,' he says with a smile.

She reluctantly gets out of the warm bed and joins him in the shower.

_The Beach Apartment_

David walks up to the door nervously wringing his hands. He stands at the door, takes several deep breaths and then knocks.

The door opens to reveal Donna, wearing a tee shirt underneath a pair of overall shorts. She steps out of the house and looks at him.

'Kelly's home right now, so we'll have to take a walk,' she says quickly, not wanting to look at him for very long.

'Okay,' he says and leads her down to the beach. They begin to walk slowly, trying to avoid the other people on the beach.

'Donna, I just want to say thank you for agreeing to talk with me,' he says to her.

'You're welcome, now what is it you wanted to talk about?' she asks him.

David walks a little further and looks around them. There weren't a whole lot of people near them, so he stops and turns to her.

'Donna, I know that you're probably still mad at me and you have every right to be and I know that I hurt you more than I can even imagine. I was having a really hard time figuring out how to live without you and I came to a conclusion,' he says staring at her beautiful eyes.

Donna looks at him softly, waiting to hear what he has to say.

'I can't do it. I can't not have you in my life. I wish I could express how truly sorry I am for hurting you. I don't think they make words for that, because I couldn't find one that even came close to how I feel,' he continues as a tear rolls down his face.

She tears up a little just listening to him and tries as hard as she can to hold them back.

'Donna, I miss you. I love you. I love you more than you'll ever know and the only thing I want is for us to be able to talk this out and see if there's even a chance that you would consider being with me again,' he says.

'David, I don't know if I'm ready for that just yet,' she chokes out.

'Donna, please, say you'll at least think about it,' he begs her.

She looks at him, with tears rolling down his cheeks, and tries to remember how angry and hurt she was when she found out that he had cheated on her. The feelings vaguely come back to her, but are overwhelmed by the feelings of sorrow and love for him.

She tries to answer him, but can't seem to get a sound to come out of her mouth. She nods her head in his direction and feels him put his hand on her arm.

She looks up at him again and all of her efforts to hold back her tears fail as they come streaming down her face. He puts his other hand on her other arm and she instinctively leans toward him.

He immediately wraps his arms around her as she cries into his shoulder.

_The Beach Apartment_

'How are you feeling?' Brandon asks Kelly. He is standing in her living room staring at her. She is on the couch, curled up in a little ball with a blanket up to her neck.

'Oh, just great, if great means that some invisible person seems to be standing over me hammering something into my head,' she says slowly and softly.

'Well, Kel, that's what you get for drinking with those actor people two nights in a row,' he says with a smile and sits down on the couch with her.

'I will not make that mistake again,' she says. 'Although I did have fun, I do have to remember to eat something before I start drinking like that and to down half a gallon of water before going to bed.'

'Well, that's what college is for, right? Learn how to drink like an adult,' he laughs.

'Very funny, Brandon,' she says with a pout.

'Well, I was going to suggest a nice walk on the beach, but it looks like you're down for the count. Why don't you give me a call when you're feeling better, okay?' he says and kisses her on the forehead.

'Okay, Brandon. I'm sorry,' she says.

'No need to be sorry, Kel. I'm just glad you got home in one piece,' he says and walks toward the door.

The door opens as he goes to reach for the handle and he sees Donna and David walk into the apartment. It looks to Brandon as if they had both been crying and when he catches David's eye, his suspicions are confirmed.

'Hi Brandon,' Donna says quickly.

'Hi Donna, I was just leaving, see you guys,' Brandon says.

'I'm going to take off too, I have a study session in twenty minutes,' David says.

'Okay, David,' she says and closes the door behind him.

Donna walks into the living area and slumps down on one of the chairs.

'Donna, are you alright?' Kelly says from underneath the blanket.

'Yeah, I feel as good on the inside as you look on the outside,' she says.

_Baja_

'Dylan, can't we take a break or something?' Brenda says trying to keep up with him.

'Come on, Bren, you're not going to flake out on me now, are you?' Dylan says, carrying his surfboard up to the hotel.

'We've been going non-stop since this morning, I'm kind of tired,' she says, trying to give him puppy-dog eyes.

'Oh, no you don't, I've got something planned for us,' he says and grabs her hand. He brings it up to his mouth and kisses it slowly.

'What now?' she says.

He puts his surfboard down and wraps his arms around her waist.

'Well, we are going to go and take a shower and then put on our fancy dress clothes and have one of the most romantic evenings of our lives,' he says.

'How long have you been planning this?' she asks him.

He answers her by placing a soft gentle kiss on her lips.

'Come on, the night awaits,' he says. She smiles at him and follows him up to their room.

He puts on a nice dress shirt and pants and sits on the bed waiting for Brenda to come out of the bathroom.

'Any day now, Bren, we're going to be late,' he says.

'I'm coming, just hold your horses,' she says through the bathroom door. She had combed through her closet while she was packing for something to wear that he had never seen before. She had found a short little black dress with a v-shaped neck line in the front and a deep v-shape in the back. She put the finishing touches on her makeup and stood back to look at herself in the mirror.

'_Oh, yeah, this will certainly do the trick.'_ She smiles at her reflection and opens the door. She walks out slowly to see that Dylan was laying on the bed with his hand over his face waiting for her.

'Ready?' she asks him.

He moves his arm to see that she had finally come out of the bathroom. He sits up slowly taking in the sight of her in the sexiest dress he had ever seen her wear.

'Wow,' he says and gets up off of the bed. She raises her eyebrows at him and takes a step in his direction.

He quickly closes the distance between them and takes her in his arms.

'You look incredible,' he says and kisses her on the neck.

'Thank you,' she says.

'I almost don't want to leave now,' he says to her with a smile.

'I just spent the last hour and a half putting this on, so it's going to have some fun before hitting the floor, okay?' she says.

He laughs at her and nods his head. He takes her hand and leads her out of the room.

He walks down the walkway toward the restaurant and then takes a turn onto the beach.

'Dylan, where are we going?' she asks him.

'You'll see,' he says with a wicked smile.

He leads to down the beach walk until they meet a handsome waiter dressed all in white. He bows when he sees them coming.

'Good evening, Mr. McKay, right this way,' he says. Brenda follows the waiter with her eyes and sees that he's walking on a red narrow carpet that has been laid out on the sand. Dylan looks at her and winks and leads her down the carpet.

The carpets ends at a small table under a canopy, decorated with flowers and candles. The waiter holds out one of the chairs for Brenda and pushes it in when she sits.

She looks at the table, which has a beautiful candelabrum in the center. The waiter pulls out a bottle from the ice bucket and pops the cork.

'Sparkling cider,' he announces and begins to fill their glasses. Brenda smiles and looks over at Dylan.

He has a smile plastered on his face and brings his hand up to brush her cheek. The waiter nods at them and walks away.

Dylan picks up his glass and holds it up.

'To you finally getting a break,' he says. She lifts her glass and clinks it with his.

She takes a sip and puts it down. She looks around where their table is set up on the beach. The water is glistening in the moonlight and there is a gentle breeze in the air.

'Dylan, this is beautiful,' she says.

'I'm glad you like it,' he says as the waiter brings over a platter of appetizers.

'I was going for the Riviera feel, but I don't think the sand is white enough,' he says with a smile.

'It is in my head,' she says. 'This does feel just like that little tiny restaurant we went to right before we left.'

'Well, that was the idea,' he says and leans over to kiss her.

Dylan lifts the lid off of the platter sitting on the table and Brenda begins to laugh.

'Mexican bruchetta?' she asks him.

'Well, this was as close as we were going to get to the real thing,' Dylan says.

She looks down and sees tiny pieces of toasted bread with salsa spread on top. They both begin to laugh softly.

_Casa Walsh_

Brandon comes home to see his mother wandering around the kitchen with a coffee cup in her hand.

'A little late for coffee, don't you think, Mom?' he says.

Cindy looks down at the cup and smiles. She walks to the sink and puts the empty cup in it.

'Are you alright?' he asks her.

'I'm just a little worried about Brenda,' she admits.

'Mom, Brenda's fine. I'm sure there is nothing to worry about. She's a big girl now and she and Dylan can take care of themselves,' Brandon assures her.

'I know, Brandon, but that doesn't mean that I'm not still worried about her.'

Brandon sighs. 'You know, I remember you doing this the first few nights she was in Paris, and then again when she went to London,' he says and looks at her. 'She may still be in another country right now, but it's still only a few hours away.'

'Yeah, I guess you're right. She'd call if she needed anything, right?' Cindy asks him, looking for some kind of confirmation so that she'd be able to sleep.

'Of course she would, now stop worrying about it, okay?' he says and gives his mother a smile.

'Okay, I'm going to go up to bed,' she says and walks up the stairs.

Brandon shakes his head and heads up to his room.

Cindy opens her bedroom door to see Jim sitting up reading.

'You alright?' he asks her.

'Yeah, Brandon's home,' she says.

'Cindy, I know you're worried about Brenda, but she'll be fine. I'm sure of it,' he says and then winces in pain.

'Jim, what was that?' she says.

'I don't know. I just felt a sharp pain in my chest. Maybe it's just indigestion,' he says and shifts his weight.

Cindy watches him as he moves to find a comfortable position.

'There, all gone,' he says and smiles at her. She gets under the covers and stares at the ceiling.

'Honey, it'll be fine, she's going to come back in one piece, I promise,' he says and kisses her on the forehead.

'I hope you're right,' she says and reaches over to shut off the lamp.

Cindy wakes up to the sound of quick short breaths. She looks over at Jim and can see the sweat glistening on his forehead. She immediately sits up and turns the light on.

'Jim? What's wrong?' she says.

He has his hand on his chest and she can see that he drenched with sweat and is having trouble breathing.

'Cindy,' he says between breaths. 'I think I'm having a heart attack.'

'Oh my God,' she says and picks up the phone and dials 9-1-1.

'Yes, I think my husband is having a heart attack. We need an ambulance right away,' she almost screams into the phone.

Brandon wakes up to hear the sound of his mother's voice. He thinks he may have been dreaming it, but hears it again and immediately feels that something must be wrong.

He quickly gets out of bed and runs into his parents' room.

'Brandon, get your father's robe and slippers, right now,' Cindy says panicking.

'Mom, what's going on?'

'Your father thinks he's having a heart attack,' she says with tears rolling down her cheeks.

Brandon sees his father lying on the bed with his hand to his chest, breathing quickly and covered in sweat. He runs to the bathroom and grabs his father's robe. He quickly moves to his father's side and kneels down.

'Dad, are you in any pain?' he asks him. He sees Jim shake his head.

'Just pressure,' he manages to get out. They hear the sirens coming toward the house and Brandon puts his father's robe on the bed and runs down the stairs to meet the paramedics.


	24. Chapter 24

_The Time of Our Lives__ – Chapter 24 – The family deals with a crisis_

_Baja_

Dylan and Brenda finish their meal. She had enjoyed thoroughly the Mexican lasagna that was prepared for them and the decent effort the restaurant made at dessert ravioli. Dylan gets up from his seat and pulls her chair out for her to get up. He takes her hand and walks her toward the glistening water.

'Bren, there's something I want to give you,' he says. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a jewelry box. She looks up at him with a slightly confused look on her face.

'It's not that, calm down,' he says quickly. She breathes a sigh of relief and then starts to laugh. He smiles at her and grabs her hand.

'I saw these while we were out wandering one day in Vernazza and just had to get it for you,' he says.

He hands her the box and she looks up at him before opening it.

Brenda's eyes widen and her mouth opens in a bit of surprise. She stares at the most beautiful earring she had ever seen. She vaguely remembers passing them by in one of the shops that they had been to, but never thought that Dylan would have gone back and purchased them.

They were beautiful drop earrings with three sets of tiny diamonds in a string which flowed into a brilliant black onyx droplet.

'Oh, Dylan, they're beautiful,' she says.

He puts his arms around her and kisses the top of her head. 'So are you,' he says.

She looks up at him and smiles.

'I love you so much, Bren. I just want to make you happy,' he says.

She kisses him passionately with her hand on the back of his neck. 'Well, you're doing a good job. I love you.'

They stand on the beach kissing each other in the moonlight and enjoying this perfect moment for as long as they can stand it.

_The Hospital_

Cindy paces in the waiting room of the hospital while Brandon sits wringing his hands nervously. They had hooked Jim up to the EKG machine as soon as they had arrived and then taken him right to surgery.

'Brandon,' Cindy says softly. He looks up at her as she stops pacing in front of him.

'Do you know how to get a hold of your sister?' she says.

Brandon feels a nervous knot in his chest and nods. He gets up to find a phone. He dials Kelly's number and waits for someone to answer.

When she finally does he lets out the breath he had been holding. 'Kelly,' he says softly hearing his voice crack.

'Brandon? What's wrong?' she says after hearing his voice.

'I need you to do me a favor. Go to my house. On the pad next to the phone is the number of the hotel that Brenda and Dylan are staying at in Baja. Call her and tell her to get home as quickly as she possibly can. Dad is in the hospital,' he tells her.

'Oh my God, Brandon, is he alright? What happened?' she says.

She hears him breathing quickly on the other side of the phone.

'He had a heart attack and he's in surgery right now,' he says.

'Oh, Brandon, I'm so sorry,' she says.

'Can you do that for me?' he asks her.

'Sure, no problem, I'll go right now. Do you need anything? Is there something I can do?' she asks him.

'No, there's nothing any of us can do. Thanks, Kel,' he says and hangs up the phone.

Kelly quickly puts her shoes on and grabs her purse. She almost runs out to her car and speeds the entire way over the Walsh house. She opens the back door with the key hidden under the mat and runs to the phone.

She dials the number written on the pad and begins to panic when it rings more than twice before someone at the hotel picks up the phone.

'I need Dylan McKay's room please?' she asks nervously. The phone begins to ring again and with each ring she becomes more and more nervous.

_Baja_

Dylan and Brenda slowly make their way back to their room. They stand outside the door kissing each other.

'Do you hear something?' Brenda says.

'Sounds like the phone,' Dylan says and opens the door. He rushes to the table and picks it up.

'Dylan, oh my God, thank you for finally picking up the phone. I've been trying to reach you guys for like 10 minutes!' he hears Kelly yelling at him.

'Kel, calm down, what's the matter?' he asks her.

'I need to talk to Brenda right now,' she says firmly.

'Okay, relax,' he says and turns to face Brenda who is standing behind him. 'It's Kelly, she says she really needs to talk to you.' He shrugs and hands her the phone.

'Kelly? What's going on?' Brenda says into the phone. She listens to Kelly talking and the color fades from her face. She sits down slowly on the bed and looks at the floor with her mouth open.

'Okay, we'll be right there,' she says and hangs up the phone.

'Dylan, we have to go back,' she says through the tears that have started streaming down her face.

'Bren, what's wrong?' he moves quickly to her and puts his arm around her shoulder.

'My father's in the hospital. He had a heart attack and he's in surgery right now,' she chokes out.

'Okay, okay, okay,' Dylan says quickly, looking around the room. He gets up and begins to throw everything in their bags as quickly as he can. She sits on the bed unable to move while he flies around the room grabbing all of their things.

He puts the bags in the car and comes back for her. He kneels in front of her and takes her hands.

'Bren, it's going to be okay. Come on,' he says and pulls her to a standing position. He puts his arm around her and leads her to the car.

He puts her in the passenger seat and closes the door. He gets in and begins to drive as fast as he possibly can back to Beverly Hills.

Brenda sits and stares at the road in front of them. _'This can't be happening. This can't be happening. This can't be happening.'_

_The Hospital_

Brenda runs into the hospital with Dylan in tow. She tries to ask the front desk where her father is, but nonsense comes out of her mouth.

'Jim Walsh,' Dylan says to the woman at the counter.

She directs him to the surgery waiting room and shows him the way to the elevators.

Brenda grabs Dylan's hand and holds on as tightly as she can. They walk together to the waiting area and see Cindy immediately burst into tears when she sees them coming.

Brenda runs to her mother and embraces her.

'Oh, Brenda, I'm so glad you're here,' Cindy says through her tears.

'Mom, what happened?' she says.

Dylan walks over to sit down next to Brandon. He puts his arm around Brandon's shoulder and squeezes.

Brandon looks up at him, nods his head and then looks back down at the floor.

Kelly comes from around the corner with a tray full of coffee cups.

'Thank you, Kelly,' Cindy says, taking one of the cups.

'The nurse came out about 20 minutes ago to tell us that the surgery went very well and that your father is in the recovery room right now,' Cindy tells Brenda.

'Why did he need surgery?' Brenda asks.

'Well, they saw a blockage in one of his major arteries and had to go in immediately to relieve the pressure. They put in four stents while they were in there to prevent another blockage from occurring,' she says.

'Oh my God,' Brenda says.

'When can you see him?' Dylan asks.

'They said that he should be out of recovery within the hour and then once they find him a room, we can see him,' she says.

Cindy sits down and drinks her coffee. Brenda lets out a deep breath and sits down next to Dylan. He grabs her hand and kisses it.

'Thank you for driving like a raving lunatic to get us here so quickly,' she says to him. He smiles at her and squeezes her hand.

'Anything for you,' he says. She leans up to kiss him.

Kelly sits down next to Brenda.

'Brenda, you look beautiful. I love this dress,' she says.

Brenda looks down at what she is wearing. She almost forgot that she still had her sexy dress on and Dylan was still wearing his dress clothes.

'Oh, yeah, we had just come back from dinner when you called and I didn't even think to change,' she says, a little embarrassed.

'Let me see,' Cindy says. Brenda gets up and stands in front of her mother, who also had not noticed what she was wearing.

'Oh, that is stunning on you, sweetheart,' she says.

'Thanks, Mom,' she says as she exchanges a look with Dylan.

They try to find things to talk about to pass the time until they could see Jim. Finally, after about 40 minutes, one of the nurses comes out from the recovery area.

'Mrs. Walsh?' she says. Cindy stands up and walks over to her.

'Your husband is doing very well. He has been moved up to room 415, just take the elevator up one floor and turn left down the hallway.'

'Thank you very much,' Cindy says. She picks up her purse and leads the way to the elevator.

Cindy enters Jim's room first and sees him lying in the hospital bed with wires coming out from every direction under his hospital gown.

She touches his hand and looks up at his sleeping form. 'Jim?'

He opens his eyes to see his wife staring down at him with tears in her eyes.

'Cindy,' he says.

'Oh Jim,' she says and kisses him on the forehead. 'You scared me.'

'I scared myself, but I'm okay now. The doctor said the surgery went great and everything looks good,' he says.

'The kids are here,' she says and waves them into the room.

'Hey Dad,' Brandon says. 'How are you feeling now?' he says.

'Good as new, Brandon,' he says as he sees Brenda step out from behind Brandon.

'Brenda, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in Baja with Dylan?' he asks her.

'Yes, and now I'm in the hospital with Dylan,' she says as Dylan comes into the room and stands behind her.

'You look good, Dad,' she says.

'Thank you, sweetie, I definitely feel good,' he says.

'Well, we better let you get some rest,' Brandon says.

'Mom, do you want us to bring you anything from the house?' he says.

'No, I'll be fine for tonight. Give us a call before you come over tomorrow and I'll let you know,' she says.

'Cindy, you don't have to stay here. It's going to be very uncomfortable for you,' Jim says.

'Jim, I'm not leaving, so just deal with it,' she says.

'Goodnight, Dad,' Brenda says and kisses him on the cheek.

'Goodnight sweetheart,' he says.

'Goodnight Dad,' Brandon says and follows Dylan and Brenda out of the room.

They stop just outside of his room. Brandon and Brenda look at each other and put their arms around each other.

'He's okay, Bren, he's okay,' Brandon says, trying to say it convincingly enough to believe it himself.

Brandon puts his other arm around Kelly and Brenda puts hers around Dylan and they walk out of the hospital together.

Dylan and Brenda follow Kelly and Brandon back to the Walsh house. They all go into the house and sit in the living room.

'This has got to be one of the best and worst nights of my life,' Brenda says looking up at Dylan.

'Yeah,' he says. She leans into him and he drapes his arm over her shoulder.

'Thank you for coming over here and calling Brenda, Kelly. I really appreciate it,' Brandon says.

'No problem, Brandon,' she says with a smile.

'Can we talk?' he says. She nods and gets up from the chair she was sitting in. He grabs her hand and leads her up to his room.

Brenda and Dylan look at each other and then watch them disappear up the steps.

'I should go, Bren, it's late,' Dylan says.

'Dylan, don't leave,' she says and picks her head up from his chest to look at him.

'Brenda,' he starts to say.

'Please don't leave,' she says. 'Stay with me.'

'I don't know if that's such a good idea. Are you sure you want me to stay here?' he asks her.

She nods and says, 'Yes, I'm sure.'

'Okay,' he says softly. She gets up and pulls him up off of the couch. He follows her upstairs to her room and sees that Brandon has shut his door. Brenda walks into her room and starts to take her dress off.

He helps her unzip it in the back and it slips off of her shoulders and hits to floor. She opens a drawer and pulls out a bed shirt.

She slips it over her head and turns around to face him. She starts to unbutton his shirt and then slides it over his shoulders. He takes his pants off and drops them on the floor. They climb into her bed and he puts his arm around her and pulls her close.

'This is not how I imagined this night ending,' she says softly.

'Me either,' he says and kisses her forehead.

She cuddles closer to him and sighs. He pulls her as close as he can as he hears her start to cry softly.

'I am so relieved that my father is okay,' she says through her tears. 'I don't think I can handle another stressful thing right now.'

'You're not alone, baby. You don't have to do any of this by yourself. Your father is going to recover and be just fine, and so are you,' he says.

She looks up at him with tears in her eyes and smiles. She searches his eyes and only sees love staring back at her. She puts her hand on the side of his face and caresses his cheeks. She sees him close his eyes as she cups his chin and kisses his lips.

He responds softly to her kiss and then feels her drape her leg over his hips. He puts his hand on the back of her knee and holds her leg in place. She moans into his mouth and tightens her grip around his shoulder.

'I love you,' she whispers in his ear and rolls herself on top of him.


	25. Chapter 25

_The Time of Our Lives__ – Chapter 25_

Kelly wakes up the next morning with Brandon in her arms. They had talked and she had let him cry himself to sleep the night before.

Brandon opens his eyes and looks up to see Kelly staring at him with a smile on her face.

'Good morning,' he says.

'Good morning,' she replies. She smiles at him and kisses him on the forehead.

She untangles herself from him and goes into the bathroom to brush her teeth. He joins her in the bathroom as the door from Brenda's room opens and Brenda and Dylan walk in.

'Good morning,' Brandon says. The four of them stare at each other for a few seconds and share an awkward moment.

Brenda is only wearing a shirt that's a little short, while Kelly is wearing one of Brandon's tee shirts. Brandon and Dylan are standing in the bathroom with only their boxer shorts on.

They brush their teeth and wash their faces quickly, trying not to talk or look at each other.

Brenda and Dylan walk back into her room and shut the door. Kelly looks over her shoulder at Brandon and smiles.

'Well, that was weird,' she says.

'Yeah, definitely something I didn't need to see this early in the morning,' he says. He wraps his arms around her and she leans back into him.

He kisses her slowly and then pulls back to look at her.

'Mmmmm, minty fresh,' he says. She laughs at him and starts to pull him the direction of his room.

He shuts his side of the bathroom door and drops Kelly onto the bed. She giggles at him and pulls him down on top of her.

Brenda shuts the door and then leans up to kiss Dylan on the cheek.

'That was strange seeing them like that,' he says to her.

'Yeah,' she says and looks up at him with purpose.

'Bren,' he says.

She throws her arms around his neck and begins to kiss him from the collar bone up to his ear. He moans out loud and puts his arms around her waist and lifts her up slightly. She pushes him backward and he ends up bumping into the window seat. He sits down and pulls her down onto his lap.

Their hands roam each other's bodies as they kiss each other passionately. Through the bathroom door they hear Kelly giggle loudly and pull apart from each other.

'Oh, that's not right,' Brenda says.

'Bren, let's say we get out of here, go somewhere a little,' he pauses and then looks at her, 'quieter.'

She thinks about it for a few seconds. 'Yeah, let's go and then we can get some breakfast and go down to the hospital,' she says.

'Perfect plan,' Dylan says and they get up and start throwing their clothes on.

They leave the house quickly and drive over to Dylan's house. They jump out of the car and Dylan leads her straight to the bedroom.

He shuts the door and throws her arms around his neck. He begins to kiss her as she pushes him backward until he falls onto the bed.

She pulls off her shirt and leans down to help him with his pants.

_The Hospital_

Cindy wakes up and immediately looks over to where Jim is laying. He is sleeping peacefully with a slight smile on his face. She smiles and gets up to wash her face.

The phone rings and she immediately picks it up, hoping not to wake Jim.

'Hi Brandon,' she says.

'Mom, how are you? Did you sleep at all?' he asks her.

'A little, honey,' she answers him.

'What do you need me to bring over for you? Magazines, books, newspaper, clothes, whatever you need, tell me,' he says.

'Oh honey, I'm fine. When you guys get here, I'll go home for a few minutes and get anything I need,' she tells him.

'Okay, well, we're going to pick up some breakfast and then come over,' he says.

'Okay, honey, see you when you get here,' she says.

'Brandon, Brenda's not even here, what are we going to do?' Kelly asks him.

'I'm pretty sure they'll be at the Pit getting some breakfast shortly,' he says with a knowing look.

'I don't even want to know how you know that,' she says to him.

'Look, I probably know them better than they know themselves. As scary as that is, Brenda is not going to waste a whole lot of time this morning,' Brandon says.

Kelly and Brandon arrive at the Peach Pit about 15 minutes later to see that Brenda and Dylan are already there.

'Hey guys,' Brandon says and sits down with them.

'I ordered you guys some breakfast so that we could get over to the hospital quicker,' Brenda says.

Brandon winks over at Kelly and she shakes her head.

'Great, that's perfect, thank you,' he says.

Nat brings over a little bit of everything to the table. He puts his hand on Brandon's shoulder.

'I'm sorry about your father, I'm sure he'll make a quick recovery,' Nat says.

'Thanks, Nat,' Brandon says and begins to eat as Nat walks back behind the counter.

They eat quickly and head over to the hospital.

'Morning, Dad, how are you feeling today?' Brenda says and kisses him on the forehead.

'Just fine,' he says with a smile.

'So, when are they going to let you out of here?' Brandon asks him.

'Probably in the next few days,' Cindy tells them. 'They want to make sure that everything is okay and that he's not having a reaction to the medication before we can leave.'

'Well, that's good. What did the doctor say?' Brandon asks.

'He said that your father was very lucky that we got him in here so quickly. He'll have to be on one of the medications for the rest of his life, but he's alive and that's what matters most. We'll have to change our diet a little bit and not strenuous exercise for a while, but the outlook looks good,' Cindy explains to them.

Brenda lets out the breath she had been holding and smiles at her father.

'I'm so glad to here that, Dad,' she says.

'Me too, honey,' he says and smiles back.

'Listen, there's no reason for you guys to be here. I'm okay for now and the doctor says he just wants to monitor me for a little while and then I can go home,' he says.

'Yeah, why don't you kids go and clean out the pantry and the refrigerator of all of the things that are not on this list,' Cindy says and hands a piece of paper to Brandon.

'Sure, no problem,' Brandon says. 'Should we pick up anything we don't have at the store?'

'If you have time, honey, that would be very helpful,' Cindy says and gives him a weak smile.

'Okay, we're on it,' Brandon says and shoos Brenda, Dylan, and Kelly out of the room.

Brandon looks over at Brenda and smiles. 'Let's go shopping!' he says.

Brenda smiles back.

_The Beach Apartment_

Donna paces back and forth in the living room of the apartment. She's pretty sure that she's going to need a manicure after she spent the last hour biting her fingernails. She shakes her head a few times and continues to walk.

She hears a knock at the door and it startles her. She stops dead in her tracks and stares at the door. She hears the knock again and slowly walks to the door and opens it.

'Hey, Donna,' Jason says. 'I thought I'd come by and see if you wanted to do something today, since I don't have to be at work until 6pm,' he says.

She smiles and lets him in to the apartment.

He looks at her and sees a worried look on her face.

'Are you alright? Is it something I did?' he says.

'Oh, no, no, Jason, it has nothing to do with you. Sorry, I'm just a little out of it today,' she says.

She sits on the couch and he joins her.

'Do you need to talk about it?' he asks her.

'Oh, you don't want to hear about this. It's just something I need to work out on my own, I think,' she says.

'Does it have something to do with David?' he asks tentatively.

She looks up at him and then back down at the couch.

'I thought so. So, what's the story there? Maybe it would help to have an outside opinion,' he says, hoping that she opens up to him.

'I don't know, Jason. It just seems a little strange to talk to you about it,' she says. 'I mean, I know we're just friends right now, but I do like you and I'm not sure I want to go into my relationship with David with you,' she says.

'I understand, Donna. I just want to be here for you, as a friend. It looks like you need one right now,' he says.

She looks into his eyes and gets lost for a few minutes. She begins to think about David and the tears well up in her eyes.

He puts his arm around her shoulders and she leans into his embrace. He lets her weep softly for a few minutes before leaning over and handing her a tissue.

_Casa Walsh_

Brandon and Brenda begin clearing out the kitchen. Kelly and Dylan had left them alone for the time being to start the process of getting the house post-heart attack Jim ready.

'Do you think this is on the list?' Brenda says with a huge smile on her face.

'Peanut butter? I don't think so,' he says.

'Looks like we're going to have to cool it in the crisis department for a while,' Brandon says.

'Why?'

'Because all of this ice cream has got to go,' he says.

Brenda smiles at him. 'Well, I don't plan on having any in the near future, do you?' she asks him.

'Nope,' he says.

'How are things going with Kelly, by the way?' she asks.

'Actually, we're doing really well so far. I thought it would be kind of weird and awkward going from friends to dating, but it really hasn't affected anything like I thought it would,' Brandon admits.

'Well, that's good. That's one less thing you have to worry about,' she says.

'How was your shortened vacation down to Baja with Dylan?' he asks her.

'It was actually going really well. He had called down ahead of time and set up dinner on the beach with a menu just like we had in Italy. It was so romantic,' she says smiling to herself.

Brandon smiles as he begins to throw things from the pantry into a box. They had decided that whatever couldn't stay in the house, they would give to David or Kelly and Donna.

'Well, just make sure you don't forget about him again, I really hate seeing that look on his face,' Brandon says.

Brenda looks over at him and nods her understanding.

They finish up in the kitchen and she runs upstairs to her room. She grabs her bag that she had not yet unpacked and runs into Brandon in the hallway.

'Hey, can you take me over to Dylan's real quick?' she asks him.

'Uh, yeah, sure,' Brandon says confused.

'I still have a day and a half left of no rehearsals and I'm going to use it,' she says.

He drops her off in front of Dylan's house and laughs as she struggles to get her bag up the steps.

He drives off in search of Kelly, suddenly feeling the need to be with her.

Brenda opens the front door to Dylan's house and drops her bag on the floor next to the door.

She sees Dylan come out from the kitchen holding a hand towel. He smiles as he sees her standing in his doorway.

'Hey, done already?' he asks her.

She closes the distance between them quickly and puts her arms around his neck. She begins to kiss him slowly.

They part and he looks at her with a confused look on his face.

'Technically we're still on vacation right?' she asks him.

Dylan nods his head, still confused.

'So, I say we don't answer the phone or the door and pretend that we are still in Baja,' she says.

He raises his eyebrows at her and tightens his arms around her waist. She lifts her head up and he starts to kiss her.

'Mmmmm, I like that idea, but what's going on with your dad? Will they need us?' he asks her.

'I left a note telling them that if anything happens between today and tomorrow to call me or come and get me,' she says. She brings her hands down his arms and grabs his hands. She slowly begins to walk toward the back of the house, pulling him with her. He follows her willingly, but pulls back on her hand playfully.

She smiles at him as he shuts the bedroom door behind him.


	26. Chapter 26

_**The Time of Our Lives**__** – Chapter 26**_

_The Beach Apartment_

Donna closes the door after Jason. He had stayed with her for a few hours and let her get all of her emotions out. She hadn't really told him anything about the situation with David and he didn't seem to mind at all. He was content just sitting with her and letting her cry it out.

Donna begins cleaning up the tissues from the living room when the door opens and Kelly comes walking in.

'Hey Donna,' she says.

'Hi Kel, how's Jim?' Donna asks, trying to hide the fact that she had been crying.

'Well, it seems as though he's doing better. I think he'll be able to go home in a day or two,' Kelly says watching Donna pick up tissues and finally notices the puffiness around her eyes.

'Donna, are you alright?' she asks and walks over to where Donna had stopped.

Donna turns to face Kelly as she approaches and immediately throws her arms around her.

'Oh, Don,' Kelly says and holds her tight. 'What happened?'

Donna weeps softly into Kelly's shoulder for a few minutes. She finally pulls away, grabs another tissue, and sits down on the couch.

'I'm just confused and angry and just plain frustrated,' Donna finally says.

Kelly joins her on the couch and looks at her with concern.

'What happened? What's going on?'

'David came to see me the morning you were recovering from drinking. We walked out on the beach to talk and he told me that he just couldn't imagine his life without me in it and begged me to at least think about considering him again,' she says.

'Really? Well, that's something I didn't expect from him,' Kelly says.

'Yeah, well, I don't know if I'm ready for that. Kel, I love him and although he hurt me really badly, I still love him and could definitely see myself with him again,' she says.

'So, what's the problem? Are you worried that you're not going to be able to tell him how you feel?' Kelly asks her.

'No, I'm not worried about that. I'm really just confused because I really do like Jason too,' she admits.

'Oh, right, Jason. I forgot about him. Have you even kissed him yet?' Kelly asks.

'No, not yet, but he's really fun to hang out with, he's a great cook, and he actually listens to what I have to say,' Donna says.

'All really great things, Donna. I can see why you're so frustrated. As painful as it might be, you really need to make a tough decision here. Is there anything I can do?'

'I don't think so, Kel, but thanks,' Donna says and gets up slowly from the couch. She wanders back into her room and shuts the door quietly.

Kelly sighs trying to figure out what she could possibly do to help her friend when the phone starts to ring.

'Hello?'

'Hey, Kel,' Brandon says.

'Hey, how's your dad doing?' she asks him.

'Better, I think they're going to let him come home tomorrow,' he says.

'Oh, that's great, that's really great.'

'Yeah, it is. Listen, I need to get out of here for a little while, want to grab some dinner with me?' he asks her.

'Sure,' she says.

'Great, I'll be over in a little while,' he says and hangs up the phone.

Brandon starts to walk out of the kitchen when the phone rings again.

'Brandon, it's Brenda,' she says when he answers.

'I just heard from Mom and she said that Dad might be able to come home tomorrow,' he tells her.

'Wow, that soon? That's good news. I just wanted to check in and make sure that everything is okay,' she says.

'Everything's fine over here. I'll call you if something changes,' he says.

'Okay, thanks, Brandon,' she says and hangs up the phone.

'Dad might be able to come home tomorrow,' Brenda tells Dylan and joins him on the couch.

'I'm glad. That's a good sign,' he says. She sits down next to him and he puts his arm around her.

'Yeah, it is. So, where were we?' she asks.

'Well, you were just about to tell me what this poem means and I was just about to do this,' he says and lunges toward her. He puts his hand on the back of her head and starts to kiss her.

Brenda tries not to laugh at Dylan's sudden movement and enjoy this kiss, but can't hold it in long enough. She breaks from him and starts to laugh.

'You surprised me,' she says when she finally stops laughing.

'That was the idea,' he says and slowly leans her back onto the couch and then shimmies his way up her body slowly.

'Mmmm, Dylan,' she moans out loud.

_The Beach Apartment_

Brandon knocks on Kelly's door and waits for her to answer. She opens the door quickly and steps outside.

'Um, Brandon, do you mind if I ask Donna if she wants to come with us? She's been in a horribly depressed mood all day and I really don't want to leave her alone,' Kelly says.

'What happened?'

'She's just confused about David and Jason. She's trying to work through it, but I'm really concerned about her,' Kelly says and looks back toward the door.

'Well,' Brandon says as he takes her hands, 'why don't we just order food and stay in?' he suggests.

Kelly looks at him with surprise. 'That is a very thoughtful suggestion,' she says. 'Let's run it by her and see if she'll come out of her room.'

Brandon follows Kelly into the apartment. He goes to the kitchen to look at the take-out menus while Kelly gingerly walks to Donna's bedroom door.

She knocks softly a few times. 'Donna?'

She hears Donna sniffle a few times and then hears her say, 'Yeah, come in.'

Kelly slowly opens the door and sees Donna lying on her bed staring up at the ceiling with a tissue in each hand.

'Brandon's here and we're going to order some food, do you want something?' Kelly asks her and sits on the bed.

'I don't know, Kel. I kind of feel sick to my stomach, I don't know if I should eat anything,' Donna says.

'Well, I'm going to order you something anyway, okay? We are just going to park ourselves on the living room floor and try to find something fun to do, if you're interested,' Kelly says.

Donna just nods at her and turns onto her side. Kelly puts her hand on Donna's shoulder and squeezes a little before getting up and joining Brandon in the living room.

'Is she alright?' Brandon asks.

'Not yet, she's still really upset. I'm not sure what to do,' Kelly says.

'Well, let's do this one step at a time. Food first, solution second,' Brandon says.

Kelly laughs a little at him and looks at a few of the menus.

After ordering food, they sit on the couch trying to figure out what to do.

'I have an idea. It may not be the best idea, but it's a suggestion,' Brandon says tentatively.

'Anything is better than what we've come up with so far, which is nothing,' Kelly says.

'I think we need to bring in the big guns,' Brandon says seriously. 'I think we should call Brenda,' he says.

Kelly thinks about what he said for a few seconds and then starts to nod her head.

'Of course, that's a great idea, Brandon. Brenda can definitely help her,' she says and gets up to find the phone.

She hands it to Brandon who begins to dial Dylan's number.

_Dylan's house_

Brenda and Dylan had fallen asleep after making love on the couch. There were poetry books and clothes strewn from one end of the room to the other while they lay perfectly still and smiling in each other's arms.

The phone begins to ring and Dylan jumps a little at the sound. Brenda opens her eyes quickly as Dylan tightens his grip around her body.

'Dylan, the phone's ringing,' she tells him.

'Who cares? I have everything I need right here,' he says and tries to get his body closer to hers.

Brenda smiles and laughs a little at him. She begins to stroke his arm with her hand as they let the answering machine pick up the call.

'Dylan, it's Brandon. I'm looking for Brenda. I'm over here at Kelly and Donna's and Donna is not doing so well tonight. She's having some kind of man issues between David and, what's his name again Kel? Right, okay, Jason. We thought maybe Bren could talk some sense into her and help her out of her funk. Give me a call at Kelly's when you get this. Later.'

Brenda stares at the ceiling listening to her brother's voice on the answering machine. She immediately thought that something was wrong with her father when he started talking, was relieved when she heard him say Donna's name.

She starts to get up as Dylan quickly kisses her on the neck. She tries to maneuver her body out from underneath him.

'Bren,' he says.

'Dylan, let me just call and find out what's going on, okay?' she says pleading him with her eyes.

He shoves a pillow over his head and huffs at her. She gets up and puts a few articles of clothing back on before walking over to the phone and dialing Kelly's number.

'Kel, it's Brenda. What's going on?' she says.

Brenda spends a few minutes on the phone with Kelly getting the update on Donna. She walks back over to the couch where Dylan still had his head under the pillow. She can almost hear him huffing and puffing under the pillow and starts to laugh.

'Come on, Dylan, you know I have to at least try to get her to talk to me about it. We won't stay long, I promise,' she says.

She gets closer to him and hears a muffled, 'No more promises.'

She smiles and sits on the edge of the couch. 'Come on, if you come with me I will do that thing in that spot that you like,' she says, teasing him.

He pulls the pillow off of his face immediately to look at her. He tries to gauge whether or not she's serious about the offer that she just made.

She smiles brightly at him and begins to put the rest of her clothes on. She walks around the room throwing his clothes in his direction while picking up hers.

_The Beach Apartment_

Dylan pulls up to the beach apartment and walks up to the door with Brenda in tow. Kelly answers the door when they knock.

'Oh, hey,' she says. 'It's just Dylan and Brenda,' she yells back to Brandon, who is impatiently waiting in the living room for the food.

'Well, that's some greeting,' Dylan says.

'Sorry, we're still waiting for our food to show up, which we ordered five minutes before calling you,' she says.

Dylan walks over and pats Brandon on the shoulder. Kelly and Brenda stare down the hallway to Donna's door.

'She hasn't come out at all,' Kelly tells her.

'Well, here goes,' Brenda says, taking a deep breath and slowly walking toward Donna's room.

She knocks softly and waits for Donna to answer.

'I don't feel like eating Kel, put it in the refrigerator,' Brenda hears through the door.

She opens the door a little bit and peeks her head around it. 'I don't think I'd fit in the refrigerator,' she says.

'Brenda?' Donna says rolling over to face the door.

Brenda walks over and sits on Donna's bed. Donna sits up and puts her arms around Brenda and hugs her tight.

She starts to cry again and Brenda holds onto her, stroking her hair as she cries.

'Brenda, I'm so confused,' Donna weeps.

'I know, sweetie,' Brenda says and pulls Donna a little closer. 'Tell me what happened.'

Dylan, Brandon, and Kelly watch and listen from the end of the hallway as Donna opens up to Brenda about David and Jason.

As they strain to hear what she is saying there is a very loud knock at the door. Brandon jumps up and runs to the door.

Kelly and Dylan go back into the living room while Brandon puts the food out.

'You hungry man?' Brandon asks Dylan.

'Nah, not really,' he says.

Brenda sits and listens to her friend pour her heart out.

'Bren, I know that it shouldn't be this hard to make this decision, but it is,' Donna says.

'Donna, honey, it should be this hard. You were dating David for a long time, you two have a lot of history together, and you know already what the good and bad sides to that relationship are. With Jason, you'd be starting all over from scratch,' Brenda says.

She puts her hand on top of Donna's and squeezes.

'All you need to figure out right now is if you want to put your energy toward getting to know someone new, or toward figuring out and dealing with your past relationship,' Brenda says.

'At times one is going to look way more attractive than the other, but you don't have to make this decision black and white. You don't want to string Jason and David along keeping their hopes up that you will pick them. Tell them both how you feel. Sit down with each one or both of them together and tell them the truth,' Brenda tells her.

'I think David is expecting me to make some kind of decision,' Donna says.

'Listen, I like David, but right now, who cares what he expects? This is your life and your heart, and you make the decision when you are damn good and ready. They will either understand or walk away, which is the chance you take by telling them,' Brenda says.

Donna nods and looks up at her friend. 'Thanks, Bren,' she says.

'Now, let's get you up so that you can eat. I will not stand by while your stomach growls for the twelfth time,' Brenda says with a smile.

Donna smiles back at her and takes her hand. They walk down the hall with their arms around each other and join Dylan, Brandon, and Kelly in the living room.

'Did someone say food?' Donna asks, looking around the room.

'Yes, ma'am, this is all yours,' Brandon says handing her a plate.

'So, Bren, when does your community show open?' Brandon asks her.

'Two weeks from Friday,' she says. 'I have another set of directing scenes that go up next week too.'

'Let's hope these directors are better than the last ones,' Kelly says.

They laugh together while Kelly and Brandon start cleaning up the food.

'Well, I think we should probably go. I have to get some sleep before class tomorrow,' Brenda says.

Dylan gets up and gives Brandon a high five.

'Goodnight guys,' Brandon says.

Brenda leans over and gives Donna a hug. 'Call me okay?' she says.

Donna nods and hugs her back.

'Goodnight,' Brenda says as they leave the apartment.

Dylan starts the car and drives back to his house.

'What's going on with Donna? Is she alright?' he asks Brenda.

'She will be, Dylan. She's just confused with David telling her that he wants her back in his life and her growing feelings for Jason. It'll work itself out,' she says.

They walk into his house and Dylan puts his arms around her.

'I'm so happy that we don't have to deal with that,' he says and leans down to kiss her.

'Mmmm, me too,' she says as he picks her up off of the floor and spins her around.

Brenda lies in Dylan's arms after they had finished making love and watches him sleep. She brushes a few pieces of hair off of his forehead and smiles at him.

'I love you, Dylan,' she whispers to him and closes her eyes.


	27. Chapter 27

_**The Time of Our Lives**__** – Chapter 27**_

Brenda throws her school bag on one of the tables in the campus café and goes to the counter for some coffee. She goes back to the table and pulls out the two new scenes she was supposed to be working on for next week.

She had just gotten settled into the first one when Dylan walks up and kisses her on the side of the head.

'Babe, come on, we're going to be late,' he says.

Brenda looks at her watch and starts shoving things into her bag.

'Are you alright?' he asks her as she slings her bag over her shoulder, grabs her coffee and follows him out of the café.

'Yeah, just trying to stay on top of everything,' she says flustered.

'Calm down, baby, you did a great job of doing that last night,' he says and puts his arm around her.

Brenda shoots him a look, but can't help but smile at him.

They run into their poetry class just as the professor was about to shut the door and sit down.

Brenda tries as hard as she can to stay awake as the professor is talking. She looks over at Dylan a few times, who was sitting straight up paying attention to everything the professor was saying. She smiles to herself and goes back to doodling in her notebook.

'I really liked that poem,' Dylan says after class.

'Yeah, what do we have to do before next class? I didn't write it down,' she says.

Dylan shakes his head at her. 'Don't worry, I did and I'll help you with it when you get back from rehearsal tonight, okay?' he says and kisses her on the forehead.

She smiles at him and says, 'Okay. Look, I have to run to meet the directors for the scenes next week. I'll see you later.'

'Okay, did you want to run over to the hospital before rehearsal tonight?' he asks her.

Brenda stops and thinks about it for a few seconds. 'I do, but I don't know that I'll have time. Let me call over there and see what's going on. He was supposed to come home today,' she says.

'Let me know,' Dylan says as he starts to walk toward his car.

Brenda watches him walk away and then starts to walk toward the theatre. She arrives to see a bunch of familiar faces from her acting classes waiting for the directors.

'Hey, Bren,' Tom says.

'Hey, what scenes are you in?' she asks him.

'I don't know, some weird period piece scene from some feminist playwright,' he says joking around.

'Ha ha, very funny. You love the ladies and you know it,' she says.

_The Hospital_

'Okay, Mr. Walsh, everything looks good and I'm going to send you home. Remember, stick to the diet, no strenuous exercise, and I want you to call today and make an appointment with Dr. Carter for a follow up in three weeks,' the doctor tells him.

'You got it, thank you so much for everything,' Jim says.

The doctor smiles at him and leaves the room. The nurse comes in to start disconnecting him from the machines while Cindy listens to the discharge instructions.

The nurse helps Jim out of the bed and to the bathroom where he changes into the clothes that Cindy had brought him.

'Thank you so much,' Cindy says to the nurse.

'Let me get a wheelchair for him and you guys are all set,' she says and leaves the room.

Jim comes out of the bathroom and looks at his wife. She stares back at him with tears in her eyes.

'Cindy, it's okay, I'm alright,' he says and walks slowly over to where she is standing. He puts his arms around her and holds her close.

'Let's go home,' he says. He turns around and sits in the wheelchair that the nurse had just brought in.

_Campus_

'Good read through guys. What do your schedules look like tomorrow?' the director of Brenda's first scene asks.

They schedule rehearsal for the next afternoon and Brenda moves on to her second director.

After both rehearsals, Brenda gathers her things and finds a phone. She calls home hoping that Brandon would be there to tell her what was going on with her father.

'Mom?' she says when she hears Cindy's voice on the other end of the phone.

'Hi Brenda,' Cindy says.

'You're home, does that mean Dad's home too?' she asks with hope.

'Yes, he's resting comfortably and everything is just fine,' Cindy tells her daughter.

Brenda lets out a sigh of relief. 'That's great news, Mom. I was just calling to check in. I'm going to come home for a few minutes before rehearsal tonight to say hi to Dad, okay?' she says.

'Okay, honey, see you soon,' she says.

Brenda calls Dylan to tell him that her father is safe and sound at home and that she was going to run over there before rehearsal.

Brenda pulls the car into the driveway, grabs her bags, and runs into the house. She doesn't stop at the bottom of the stairs when she hears her mother calling her name.

She stands outside of her parent's bedroom looking at her father watching television.

'Hi Dad,' she says softly.

Jim looks over at the doorway and sees Brenda standing there. He smiles and waves her into the room.

She walks over to him and gives him a quick hug.

'How are you feeling?' she asks.

'Like a million dollars,' he says with a smile.

'Good, I'm glad. Is there anything I can do for you?' she asks him.

'Not right now, sweetie, but thank you for asking,' he says.

'I have to go to rehearsal now, but I'll be back later, okay?' she says and kisses him on the forehead.

'Okay, break a leg,' he says.

She leaves her father's room, grabs her script and runs back down the stairs.

'Mom, I'm going to rehearsal now, I'll be back later, okay?'

'Okay, honey,' she hears from the kitchen.

Brenda drives herself to Roundhouse and walks into the theatre.

'Brenda, it's good to see you. How was your mini-vacation?' Chris asks her.

Brenda looks at him trying to figure out what to say. She contemplates telling him about her father and everything that had happened, but decides against it.

She smiles quickly and says, 'Oh, it was great. How about yours?'

'Relaxing and wonderful, and now I'm ready to get this show on the road,' he says.

_Dylan's House_

Dylan sits at the table working on the poetry assignment. He makes a few notes and then looks up at the clock.

'_It's late, I wonder why Brenda hasn't called yet.'_

He feels his stomach growl and realizes that he hadn't eaten anything since he got home. He decides to take a break and go down to the Peach Pit for some dinner.

'Dylan, haven't seen you in a while,' Nat says when he comes through the door.

'Taking a little break, Nat, went down to Baja for a few days,' Dylan replies.

'What can I get you?'

'The usual, Nat, but to go, I'm in the middle of something,' he says.

Nat nods at him and pours him a cup of coffee as he sits at the counter to wait for his food.

_The Beach Apartment_

Kelly and Brandon watch Donna mope around the apartment as they try to concentrate on the movie they rented. Donna picks up a piece of fruit, looks at it for a few seconds and then puts it back down.

She goes back to her room and sits on her bed. She stares at the phone for a few minutes without moving.

She finally picks it up and dials.

'Hi it's Donna,' she says when Jason answers the phone.

'Donna, it's good to hear from you. Are you feeling any better? I was really worried,' he says sincerely.

Donna smiles and says, 'Yeah, actually I am. Are you free tomorrow? I'd like to sit down and talk with you about a few things.'

Jason pauses and feels his chest tighten with excitement. 'Sure, I'm free,' he says quickly.

'Great, can you meet me at the Peach Pit around 6?' she asks him.

'Absolutely, I'll see you then,' he says.

'Great,' Donna says and hangs up the phone. _'One down, one to go.'_

She picks up the phone and dials again.

'David, it's Donna,' she says into the phone.

'I was hoping you would call,' he says with a little relief.

'Listen, there are some things we need to talk about now that I've had time to think about what you said. Can you meet me at the Peach Pit tomorrow around 6?' she asks him.

'Yeah, sure, I can. I'm looking forward to it,' he says.

Donna hangs up with him and sighs. _'You can do this, Donna. It's not that hard. Just tell them the truth and let them decide to walk away.'_

_Roundhouse_

Brenda finishes up with rehearsal with a great feeling. Tonight's run through went almost perfectly and she can really tell that the extra rehearsals with Kate and Joe over the weekend really helped them through the middle part of the play.

'Guys, it is looking great. I can't wait to get the rest of the props in here so we can really let it fly. We should have everything by the end of this week. So, we'll have a week to work with all of the props, the costumes, and the lighting before the show opens. Good work everybody and I'll see you guys tomorrow,' the director says.

Brenda grabs her bag, says goodbye to everyone, and goes back to the car. She drives to her house and goes inside.

She sees her father sitting in the living room reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of tea.

'Out and about, huh, Dad?' she says, walking into the living room.

'Yup, needed a change of scenery. I'm not bedridden or anything, I just have to take it easy for a while,' he says.

Brenda smiles at him. 'Well, I'm off to go do my homework and memorize some more lines,' she says and takes the steps two at a time. She sits on her bed for about 45 minutes reading over her lines for the two directing scenes. She shifts one of her scripts and sees the edge of her poetry book hanging out of her bag.

'Oh my God,' she says staring at the book. She reaches over quickly and grabs the phone.

She dials Dylan's number and lets out a groan of frustration when the answering machine picks up.

'Dylan, it's Brenda. I just got back from rehearsal a little while ago. I'm just starting my homework now. I'm sorry that I can't come over tonight, but call me if you want to, I'll be up,' she says into the phone and then hangs up.

Brenda goes back to studying her lines.

Dylan walks back into his house and sees the answering machine light blinking. He looks over at the clock and registers that it's past 1 in the morning.

He hits the button and stands in front of the machine listening to Brenda's message.

'Here we go again,' he says and shuts the machine off.

_Campus Café_

Brenda runs into the café after her last class and grabs two sandwiches from the deli area. She sits at one of the tables, puts one of the sandwiches in her bag, and inhales the other one as quickly as she can. Brandon watches her from across the room and is stunned at how quickly she was eating.

'Bren, you better slow down, you're going to get sick,' he said walking up to her.

Brenda swallows the food in her mouth and takes a deep breath.

'I know, but I was so hungry and I won't be able to eat again until I get home tonight,' she says.

'Why? Aren't you done with classes for the day?' he asks, sitting down next to her.

'Yeah, but I have rehearsals for the directing scenes this afternoon and then 'Virginia Woolf' rehearsal until 11:30 or so,' she says.

'Bren, there has got to be a better way to get acting experience, I mean, you are going to run yourself into the ground,' he says warning her.

Brenda nods at him. 'I know, I know, just another week and a half and it'll be over,' she says.

'Yeah, but you might be dead by then. You're already alienating your friends, Dylan, and your family and you've only been back at school now for two days,' he says.

'I'd love to continue this stimulating conversation, Brandon, but I have to go,' she says as she stands up from the table. She grabs her bag and walks quickly out of the café.

Dylan walks up to the table and sees Brandon shaking his head and watching Brenda flee.

'Was that Bren?' he asks Brandon.

'Yeah,' Brandon says defeated, looking up at Dylan.

'I know man, she's not going to be able to keep up this pace for much longer,' Dylan says.

'Yeah, well, she's about to lose everyone around her if she doesn't figure this out soon,' Brandon says.

'Why do you say that?' Dylan asks him.

'Kelly said that she tried to call Brenda a few times to get her opinion on some things. Donna has tried to catch her after class, but never seems to see her, and I live in the same house with her and haven't seen her since Sunday.'

Dylan nods his head and sits down.

'She's just a little busy right now, it'll all calm down and she'll go back to the Brenda we all know and love,' Dylan says with his hand on Brandon's shoulder.

'Later,' Dylan says and walks out of the café.

He decides that he's going to try to get to the bottom of this and try to help Brenda out as much as he can.

Brenda runs from her directing scene rehearsal to the car to drive down to Roundhouse. She looks at her watch to see that she will get to the theatre 15 minutes early.

'Good, just enough time to scarf down another sandwich before I die from starvation,' she says to herself.

She parks the car and takes a sandwich out of her bag. She begins to eat it slowly, trying to actually taste this one, when she sees a familiar car pull into the parking lot and park next to her.

'Bren?' Dylan says as he gets out of the car. He walks over to her window and sees that she's trying to eat.

'Dylan? What are you doing here? Did you get my message last night?' she asks him.

'Yeah, I did. I need to talk to you and I was hoping that you would have a few minutes before rehearsal started,' he says.

She nods and he goes around the car and gets into the passenger seat. He watches her as she continues to eat and tries to calm himself down before speaking.

'Bren, I was talking to Brandon this afternoon after you ran out of the café,' Dylan says.

'You were there?' she asks him.

'I just missed you, but Brandon started talking about how worried he was that you were continuing to blow off your friends and your family. Kelly and Donna have been trying to track you down since yesterday and Brandon said that even though you live in the same house he hasn't seen you for a few days,' Dylan explains.

Brenda huffs at Dylan's words. 'Don't they understand that I'm trying my best? Damn it, Dylan, I am only one person and I can only do so much. It's not my job to keep them all happy and safe,' she shoots back at him, annoyed.

'I know, Bren, trust me, I know,' Dylan says calmly. Brenda relaxes her shoulders a little when he responds.

'Listen, I just don't want you to have to feel the added pressure of that. Let me run interference or something for you. I understand how hard you are working and I really just want to do everything I can to make sure that you're not going to fall apart on me,' he says.

Brenda listens to Dylan talking. She softens her eyes and feels the emotions swelling inside of her. She tries not to let the tears fall from her eyes, but they spill over and run down her cheeks.

'I'm so sorry, Dylan. I'm trying really hard to keep it together. Thank you for understanding and trying to help me,' she says. He gets closer to her and puts his arm around her shoulder. She lays her head on his chest and cries a little.

'I know baby, let me help you, please,' he says. 'What can I do?'

Brenda nods her head into his chest. She pulls herself together and picks her head up.

'Donna left me a message last night, but I couldn't call her back since it was so late. She called David and Jason and asked them to meet her at the Pit tonight. I wanted to be there to support her or at least talk to her before she talked to them to give her a confidence boost, but I just don't have time,' she tells him as she looks at her watch.

'I'll go down there and see if there's anything I can do for her,' Dylan says. 'I'm definitely not you, but maybe I can help.'

Brenda smiles at him. 'You will?' Brenda asks him.

Dylan nods his head. 'No problem. I have made some notes for you for our poetry class assignment due tomorrow. I'm going to drop them off at your house so that you'll have them when you get back tonight, okay?'

Brenda stares at him trying to figure out what to say. She nods at him instead.

'Bren, it's going to be alright. Now, go in there and show that director who is the best actress in Beverly Hills,' he says trying to focus her attention on her next task.

'Right,' she says. He leans over and kisses her. She puts her hand on the back of his head and kisses him back.

'I love you, baby, call me when you get back tonight okay?' Dylan says and starts to get out of the car.

'Okay,' Brenda says getting out and shutting the car door. 'Thank you for everything,' she says.

'For you, anything,' he says and drives off.


	28. Chapter 28

_**The Time of Our Lives**__** – Chapter 28**_

Dylan parks the car at the Pit and goes inside. He immediately scans the place for Donna and finds her sitting at one of the tables nervously shaking her legs.

'Donna?' Dylan says walking over to the table.

Donna looks up to see him with a confused look on her face.

'Are you alright?' he asks her.

'Yeah, I guess. I'm waiting for a few people,' she says.

'Yeah, Brenda told me,' he says.

'Where is Brenda? I have been trying to call her, but I can't get a hold of her,' Donna says a little annoyed and frustrated.

'She's really sorry. The whole morning was booked with classes and the afternoon was booked with rehearsals. She's downtown right now at rehearsal and won't be done until around midnight. Is there anything I can do for you? I told her I would come down here and see if you needed anything?' Dylan tells her.

'I know she's busy, but I just wanted to talk to her for a few minutes,' Donna sighs. 'I don't know, Dylan. I don't think you can help me with this,' she says.

'Donna you are strong person. You may not think you are, but you are. All you have to do is say whatever it is you have to say to these guys. Then you'll know exactly how they feel and you won't have to worry about what they might say,' Dylan says.

Donna smiles at him. 'Thanks, Dylan. You better go, David just came in,' she says. Dylan looks over at the door to see David.

He turns back, kisses Donna on the side of the head, and says, 'Listen, I'll be right over there if you need me.'

She nods and smiles up at him. He walks to the counter and sits down as David walks over to where Donna is sitting.

'Hey Donna,' David says.

'Hi David,' she says, nervously looking at the door. A few seconds go by and Jason comes into the Pit and spots Donna right away sitting with David.

He walks over to the table and looks at her a little confused.

'Hi Jason, please sit down,' she says to him.

He looks at David staring back at him, shrugs a little and sits.

'Donna, I thought we were going to be alone,' David says still looking at Jason.

'Yeah, me too,' Jason says staring back at David.

'Well, you both thought wrong,' she says. 'Nat, can I get a menu please?' Donna says out loud.

_The Beach Apartment_

Brandon paces in the living room while Kelly sits on the couch, reading her psychology book and watching him.

'Brandon, come on, you are making me dizzy,' she says.

'I'm sorry,' he says and tries to stay still. After a few minutes, he gives up and starts pacing again.

'What are you so nervous about?' she asks him.

'I'm not nervous, I'm worried. I'm worried about Brenda. I don't know if she even realizes what she's doing,' Brandon tells her.

'Look, Brenda is going to do whatever Brenda wants to do and she doesn't really care who she alienates to do it. We may never see the old Brenda ever again after this, it's just something you have to accept,' Kelly says.

'Kelly, how could you say that?' Brandon says.

'Brandon, I know it sounds harsh, but I've been friends with her for a long time and I just don't get that upset anymore when she blows me off for something else,' Kelly says.

'The old Brenda is going to come back. I know she is,' Brandon says firmly.

Kelly smiles at him. 'You are so cute,' she says looking at him standing with one hand on hip and one fist in the air.

Brandon's brain immediately switches from being worried about Brenda to focusing only on Kelly sitting on the couch, playing with her hair, staring at him.

He pounces quickly as Kelly's book drops to the floor. She laughs at his sudden movement and wraps her arms around his neck.

He kisses her purposefully as he lays her down on the couch.

Brandon pulls back a little and sees her smiling at him. 'Thank you for lightening the mood, Kel,' he says.

'You're welcome,' she replies as she wraps her legs around his waist and kisses him.

_Roundhouse_

'That was good guys, but let's try the last scene again. At this point in the play, we really need to see the exhaustion of what this night has done to these four people. Don't worry about projecting your voices for the moment, just do what comes naturally,' the director says.

Brenda sighs and takes her position on the stage for the beginning of the last scene. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath as they start it over again.

They run the scene again and the director stands up clapping slowly at the end of it.

'That was incredible,' he says walking up to the stage.

Brenda breaks down a little bit and wipes the tears from her eyes. Chris stands over her and puts his arm around her shoulder. She looks up at him and sees that he is crying too.

The director comes up onto the stage and puts his arms around both of them. He hugs them tight for a few seconds and then lets go of them.

'You guys are going to crush everyone with that last scene. That was some of the best acting I've seen in a long time. Great job,' he says and walks off of the stage.

Kate and Joe come back on and Chris and Brenda put their arms around them. They stand together for a few minutes trying to unwind and don't move until they are all breathing normally again.

They finally part without a word to each other and leave the stage. Brenda cries herself all the way home.

_The Peach Pit_

Dylan watches from across the room as Donna talks with Jason and David. He can't see the guy's faces, but he can see Donna clearly. She looks like she is holding her own pretty good as he continues to watch her.

'Look, I just wanted to make sure that you both knew how I felt. I don't want you to feel as though I'm stringing you along because I can't make up my mind about either one of you,' Donna says.

'David, you and I have a history together, but there's a reason we broke up and I'm not entirely sure that you've overcome your tendencies,' she says.

'Jason, I adore you. You came into my life at a time where I really needed someone that wasn't a part of my normal world to talk to. You are an amazing person and I really do like you. I'm not sure that I can commit to anything more than the friendship we have now,' she continues.

'At this point, the only decision I was able to make and be one hundred percent sure of is the fact that I don't want to date either of you.'

David and Jason stare at Donna the entire time she is talking. They steal glances at each other a few times while she talks.

'Well, Donna, if that's the way you feel, then friendship it is. That I can give you, no pressure,' Jason says with a smile.

Donna returns his smile and looks up to catch Dylan's eye. He nods at her and then goes back to drinking his coffee.

David doesn't say anything for a little while. Jason finishes up his food and starts to get up.

'Look, I'm sorry, but I have to go. I was supposed to be at work a half hour ago, but I figured that this was more important than that,' Jason says.

Donna smiles at him again. 'Okay, thank you for coming,' she says.

He winks at her and waves as he leaves the table.

'David, please say something,' she says to him.

David looks up at her with a dejected look on his face.

'Sorry, I just don't have a whole lot to say right now,' he says and gets up from the table. He walks past Dylan without a glance in his direction and right out of the Pit.

Dylan gets up and walks right to the table and puts his arm around Donna.

She has tears welling up in her eyes and puts her head on Dylan's shoulder.

'What did he say?' Dylan asks her.

'Nothing at all. I told them that I just couldn't be more than friends right now with either of them. Jason seemed to take it really well, but David didn't say anything at all,' she says.

'Donna, if David really wants you in his life, he'll get over it,' Dylan says firmly.

Donna looks up at him with a strange look on her face.

'What?' Dylan says.

'You sounded just like Brenda right there,' she says with a small laugh. 'It was so cute. I really felt for a second that she was here.'

Dylan smiles awkwardly at Donna.

'Speaking of Brenda, I better go. Her rehearsal should be over in a little while and I told her that I'd drop off some notes at her house.'

'Thanks for being here, Dylan. You really did help me,' she says.

'No problem,' he says and jumps in his car.

He drives over to the Walsh house and knocks on the door.

'Well, hi Dylan, come on in,' Cindy says when she answers the door.

'Hi, I just came by to drop this off for Brenda so she'll have it when she gets back from rehearsal,' Dylan says holding up a few pieces of paper.

'I'll put it in her room. Why don't you go and say hi to Jim. I think he's sick of just seeing me all of the time,' she laughs.

Dylan smiles and hands her the papers. He walks into the living room where Jim is watching a baseball game.

'Looking good, Jim,' he says and sits down next to him.

'Thanks, Dylan, I feel good,' Jim says.

'What's the score?' Dylan asks.

_The Beach Apartment_

Brenda pulls up to the apartment. It's kind of late, but she figured that maybe the girls would still be up.

She knocks on the door softly hoping not to wake them if they were sleeping.

Kelly opens the door and stands in shock at seeing Brenda.

'Brenda!' she says.

'Hi Kel,' Brenda says tentatively. 'Is it too late to drop by?' she asks.

'No, no, it's fine, come on in,' she says.

Brenda walks into the apartment and sees Donna on the couch with a bunch of school books surrounding her.

'Bren? What are you doing here? I thought you'd be in rehearsal until midnight?' Donna says.

'We did such a great job that he let us out a little early, so I thought I'd come by and see you guys. How did it go today, Donna? I'm sorry that I couldn't be there and that I missed your call yesterday,' Brenda says.

'Actually, it went as good as it could have gone. I told them both that I didn't want to date either of them and that friendship was all I could offer at this time and Jason was totally cool with it. David, on the other hand, didn't say a word and just left me sitting there,' Donna says.

'Oh, honey, I'm sorry. I'm sure he'll come around and if he doesn't it's his loss,' Brenda says.

'Dylan was great though. Thanks for that,' Donna says.

'He offered to do it. I told him how worried I was about you and how I wish I could have been there to support you and he offered to go in my place,' she says with a smile.

'Well, I thought it would be weird at first, but he was great,' Donna says.

'What about you Kel? What's going on in the land of psychology?' Brenda asks her.

Kelly smiles at her. 'Just analyzing social behavior, a college campus is a fantastic place to do that,' she says.

'Look, guys, I'm sorry I haven't been around much, but I promise after next week, it will calm down,' she says.

'How long will you be performing the community show?' Kelly asks her.

'Um, well, it opens next weekend and runs the next three weekends, including matinee shows on Sundays,' she says.

'Oh,' Kelly says and lets her face fall.

'Why?' Brenda asks.

'Well, the sorority is having this talent show in two weeks to raise money and I was thinking that maybe the three of us could do something together,' she says.

Brenda looks up at Kelly and then at Donna. 'Is it at night, because I could do it during the day on a Saturday?' Brenda says.

'I'm not sure, I'll find out,' she says.

'Okay, if it's during the day, then count me in, I would love to do it with you guys,' Brenda says.

'Well, I better get home and start my work. I'll see you guys soon,' Brenda says and waves at them.

Kelly looks over at Donna and gives her a weak smile.

'She's trying, Kel. She didn't have to come over here to see us after her really long day. She's doing ten times the amount that we are doing. We need to give her a little slack,' Donna says.

'Maybe you're right, Don,' Kelly replies and starts reading her book again.

_Casa Walsh_

Brenda pulls up the driveway and sees Dylan's car in the street in front of her house. She walks in and sees her Dad and Dylan sitting in front of the television watching the baseball game. She gets closer and realizes that they are both asleep.

She smiles and goes into the kitchen to see her mother sitting at the table with several cookbooks laid out in front of her.

'Mom? What are doing up this late?' Brenda says.

'Well, I was letting your father rest for a while before I woke him up to go upstairs, so I thought I'd try to figure out some new recipes while I was waiting,' she says.

Brenda smiles at her mother. 'Well, I'm going to wake Dylan and let him know that I'm here,' she says.

'Oh, he left some papers for you. They are up in your room on your bed,' Cindy says.

'Thanks Mom.'

Brenda walks carefully into the living room and puts her hand on Dylan's arm.

'Dylan?' she says quietly. He slowly opens his eyes to see Brenda kneeling in front of him.

'Bren? Is it that late already?' he asks her.

She nods and looks over at her sleeping father.

Dylan slowly gets up from the couch, trying not to disturb Jim. They make their way up the stairs to her bedroom, where she sees the papers on her bed.

Dylan flops down on her bed as she puts her bag down and goes into the bathroom to remove her makeup. She sees the dark circles under her eyes and sighs when she realizes that it wasn't her running makeup that was causing them.

She walks back into her room and sees that Dylan had fallen back asleep while lying on her bed. She smiles to herself and grabs her bag and the papers that he had left for her and starts working on her poetry assignment.

Brenda sits at her desk as she watches her mother walk her half-asleep father down the hallway to their room. Cindy comes back and says goodnight to her daughter, not even noticing that Dylan was asleep on her bed.

Brenda watches her mother leave the room and close her door and then looks back at Dylan.

She works on her assignment and finally finishes about an hour later. She hears Brandon come through the front door and come up the steps. He goes into his room and then comes through the bathroom into her room.

'Hey,' he says quietly.

'Hey,' she says and walks over to the bathroom door.

'Mom and Dad asleep already?' he asks her.

'Yeah, Dad and Dylan fell asleep downstairs watching the baseball game,' she says looking back and Dylan sleeping peacefully on her bed.

'They're actually letting him stay here?' Brandon asks her.

Brenda shrugs and says, 'Mom came in to say goodnight and closed my door. I don't even think she realized that Dylan was still here.'

Brandon laughs a little bit. 'Well, breakfast tomorrow should be fun,' Brandon says.

'Very funny, Brandon. I was just finishing up my work and was about to wake him,' she says.

'Well, have fun with that, I'm going to bed,' he says and closes the bathroom door.

Brenda walks over to her bed and touches Dylan's arm.

He stirs a little, but doesn't wake. She smiles and changes into her pajamas. She crawls into bed next to him and lays a kiss on his forehead.

He moves closer to her body without opening his eyes and wraps his arms around her.

'Dylan?' she says and shakes him a little.

'Mmmmm.'

'Dylan, wake up,' she says.

He opens one eye and looks down at her. He furrows his brow a little and looks around the room trying to figure out where he is.

'Yes, you fell asleep in my room,' she says seeing his recognition.

Dylan smiles at her and pulls her closer.

'What time is it?' he asks her.

She leans over his body to look at the clock. 'Almost 2 in the morning,' she tells him.

'A few more hours,' he says.

She smiles at him. 'Dylan.'

'They'll never know,' he says and closes his eyes again.

She leans over him and sets her alarm for 4:30am. She lies back down and puts her arm around Dylan's back and her head on his chest.

He moves a little to get comfortable and kisses the top of her head.

The alarm goes off and startles Brenda out of a peaceful sleep. She moves to turn it off and shakes Dylan awake.

'Dylan, it's 4:30, you have to go before my mother wakes up,' she says.

He opens his eyes and looks at her. She pulls back a little at the intense stare he is giving her. He pulls her close and begins to kiss her neck slowly.

Brenda closes her eyes as he works his way up her neck to her earlobe.

'Ah,' she says out loud. 'Dylan.'

'Ssssssssh,' he says and continues his assault on her ear.

She tries as hard as she can to tell him to stop, but the words do not come out of her mouth. She closes her eyes and lets herself feel the touch of his lips to her skin.

'I miss you,' he says into her neck. She wraps her arms around his neck and starts to kiss the side of his face.

He kisses her neck and cheek, working his way to her lips. The moment their lips touch, Brenda feels a chill down her spine and she shivers.

Dylan holds her closer and kisses her firmly. He starts to take her shirt off and Brenda pulls back.

'Dylan,' she warns.

He stares back at her intensely.

'Okay, but quickly,' she gives in as he leans in to kiss her again.

Dylan makes love to her quickly. She lies in his arms, breathing heavily, trying as hard as she can to slow her heartbeat down. She looks over at the clock and gasps.

As she does, she hears the door to her parent's bedroom open.

'Shit,' Dylan says.


	29. Chapter 29

_**The Time of Our Lives**__** – Chapter 29**_

Brenda gets up quickly and grabs Dylan's hand. She sits him down on the window bench and throws a blanket on him. She runs back to her bed and throws him a pillow. He quickly pulls the blanket over himself, lies down and shuts his eyes.

Brenda gets back into her bed and pulls the covers up over her bare shoulder. She squeezes her eyes shut and waits.

She hears her mother walk downstairs and a few minutes later walking quickly back up the stairs.

'_She must have seen his car outside.'_

Brenda keeps her eyes closed and tries to calm herself down to get her breathing under control. She hears her door open and her mother take a few steps into her room. After a minute or two her door shuts and Brenda waits another few minutes before opening her eyes.

She turns and looks over at Dylan, who is staring back at her with one eye open. She slowly begins to smile at him and he rolls off of the bench and kneels at her bedside.

'That was close,' he says.

'Mmm hmm,' Brenda replies as he leans in to kiss her.

'I'm going to get dressed and take off. I'm going to tell her that you're still asleep, okay?'

'Okay,' she says.

'What's going on today, Bren?'

Brenda thinks about her day for a few seconds. 'Classes until 2 and then rehearsals until, well, whenever they end,' she says.

Dylan puts his hand on the side of her face. 'It's going to okay, baby,' he says and kisses her again.

'I'll see you in class, okay?' he says and leaves her room.

Brenda rolls over onto her back and stares at the ceiling. She tries to go back to sleep, but can't seem to do it. She gets up and goes into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

'Brenda, you're up early,' Cindy says when Brenda comes down the stairs about an hour after Dylan left.

'Yeah, I have a lot to do today and I wanted to get a head start,' she says.

'I see that Dylan stayed overnight,' Cindy says warning her daughter.

Brenda blushes a little. 'He was already asleep and I didn't have the heart to wake him, so I slept on the window bench until he woke me up at about 4 in the morning to switch,' she lies to her mother.

Cindy just nods her head and continues to drink her coffee.

Brenda gets herself a cup of coffee and sits at the table with her mother.

'Well, since you're up so early, what would you like for breakfast? I'm making these special eggs for your father, do you want to try them?' Cindy asks her.

'Um, sure,' Brenda says, sipping her coffee and quietly sighing under her breath.

_The Peach Pit – a few days later_

Dylan sits at the table with Donna, Kelly, Brandon, Steve, and Andrea. They had decided to get together for dinner to catch up with each other.

'So, how's everyone's semester going so far?' Andrea asks her friends.

'Pretty good so far, although I've never written so many papers in all of my life,' Kelly says.

'Yeah, no kidding,' Steve agrees.

They all look at him and start to laugh.

'Come on, Steve, you are barely getting by in your classes with all of your time spent getting drunk and partying at the KEG house,' Brandon says.

'Hey, I'm not failing anything,' he says defensively.

'Yet,' Donna adds.

'Dylan, how's Brenda doing? I haven't seen her in a long time,' Andrea says.

Dylan looks around the table at his friends. They seem to ask him about Brenda every time they see him and he was getting a little frustrated with the whole thing.

He sighs and says, 'Oh, she's alright. She's really busy right now with classes and rehearsals. Her show opens next weekend, so the director is eating up all of their free time,' he says.

'Did you talk to Brenda about meeting us next week to go over the talent show act?' Donna asks Dylan.

'I did and,' Dylan starts as he pulls out a piece of paper from his pocket and looks at it, 'she's free between 4 and 6 on Tuesday,' he tells them.

'Wow, you carry her schedule around in your pocket?' Brandon asks him.

Dylan holds the piece of paper in his hand and can feel his friends staring. Kelly can't hold in her laughter and lets it out slowly.

Dylan feels his face getting hot and tries to hide his embarrassment. He quickly puts Brenda's schedule back in his pocket, stands up, throws some money on the table, and leaves.

They watch him walk out and as soon as he's out of sight, all of them start to laugh, with the exception of Donna.

'Come on, guys, this can't be easy for him either,' she says.

'Donna, please, the man has been reduced to coordinating Brenda's life. That's not exactly the ideal role of a boyfriend,' Steve says.

Donna looks over toward the door and sighs.

_Dylan's House_

Dylan walks in and slams his door shut. He throws his keys on the side table near the door.

'Damn it,' he yells out loud. He walks over to the couch and kicks it hard. He turns around and notices the light blinking on his answering machine.

He stares it for a few minutes, feeling the anger well up inside of him. He clenches his fists and squeezes as hard as he can.

He walks past the machine, into his bedroom and slams the door.

_Casa Walsh_

Brandon comes through the door after dinner at the Peach Pit with his friends. He was a little annoyed at Kelly and decided to spend the night in his own bed. After Dylan had left, Donna followed shortly afterward.

Kelly and Steve took turns taking shots at Dylan and Brenda and laughing. He had tried to stay calm and put his two cents in on her behalf wherever he could, but the truth was that he was just as annoyed at Brenda as everyone else.

Brandon goes into the living room and sits on the couch with his father.

'How's it going, Brandon? You don't look so good,' Jim says.

'I don't feel so good, Dad,' he says. 'I just had to sit around and listen to my friends take shots at Brenda for not being around enough.'

Jim sits up a little and turns toward Brandon.

'Dad, it's almost like they're pissed off at her for moving on with her life. It's like they're mad that her life now only includes them on the perimeter,' Brandon tells his father.

'Do you agree with them, Brandon?' Jim says.

Brandon looks over at his father with hurt and sadness in his eyes.

'I kind of do and it's just tearing me up. I don't want to feel that Brenda is giving up on us, because I know that she isn't, but I can't help it,' he says.

'That's understandable, Brandon. Maybe you should talk to her about it,' Jim says.

'Yeah, right, when? She's never here and when she is here she's working or sleeping,' he says.

'Well, maybe for the time being, you should try another form of communication,' Jim says. He gets up from the couch, pats his son on the shoulder, and makes his way upstairs.

Brandon sits in the living room for a while thinking about what his father said.

_The Campus Café – a few days later_

Since the night at the Peach Pit, Dylan had been avoiding any place where his friends might gather. He thought that he would have some time before they all showed up to just sit in the café and read, but he was wrong. He instantly regretted not going to his car or finding a bench on campus to sit on.

'Hey Dylan,' Donna says as she and Kelly sit down at his table.

He looks up at them, nods his head, and goes back to reading his book.

'Come on, Dylan, you can't still be upset about the other night,' Kelly says.

'Yeah, well, I am,' he says shortly, not looking up.

'We were just venting our frustration, it's over and done with, I promise,' she says.

He looks up and sees Kelly trying to hide the fact that she wasn't really being sincere.

He closes the cover of his book and lays it down on the table.

Brandon and Steve join them a few minutes later.

'So, not to bring up a sore subject, but where's Brenda? I thought she said thatshe was going to stop by before her class started?' Steve asks Dylan.

'I don't know, Steve,' Dylan says.

'Oh,' Steve replies awkwardly.

'I'm sure she intended to stop by before her class,' Dylan says, immediately kicking himself for justifying her whereabouts again.

'Dylan, it's the same story every day from you. All we get is just more excuses as to why Brenda isn't here, why Brenda can't join us for dinner,' Kelly starts to say.

'She doesn't even have time for you, Dylan, and yet you still defend her,' Steve says.

'Look,' Dylan says firmly, standing up to make his point heard to all of his friends, 'I know that you guys want the cozy friendship that we had back in high school, where everyone hangs out every night because they have nothing better to do, but it's not like that anymore. You're just going to have to get used to that,' Dylan says and walks away from his friends.

Brandon looks around the table.

'You guys just had to start in on him again, didn't you?' He watches Dylan walk away and gets up quickly to follow him.

'Dylan,' he says loudly, 'wait up.'

Dylan walks quickly with Brandon following across the campus to the parking lot. Dylan finally stops at his car and turns around to see Brandon catching up.

'Are you alright, man? It can't be easy for you to sit there and make excuses for her,' Brandon says.

'It's not, Brandon, and I really shouldn't have to. It's not like she's blowing them off to go do things with other people, she's working. She's working her ass off just to be able to stay on top of her classes and still have enough energy at the end of the day to rehearse for the community show. She's exhausted, man, she can barely keep her eyes open to read two sentences out of her school books, yet she's still finding a way to get all of her work done. I'd like to see any of those fools do what she's doing right now and not fall apart,' Dylan says angrily.

'I understand, Dylan. I barely see her if at all when she does end up coming home. She stays up really late every night and she's gone before I get a chance to talk to her in the morning. I just wanted to make sure that you were alright and that defending her and justifying her actions to everyone else wasn't eating you up inside,' Brandon says.

'No, no, it's cool. I'm just started to get frustrated at the fact that they just don't get it,' Dylan says with a weak smile.

'Okay, man, look, if you need to just vent about, call me, alright?' Brandon says and playfully hits Dylan on the arm.

'You got it,' Dylan says and gets into his car and drives off.

Dylan sits in his living room staring at the wall. He thinks about what Brandon said and tries to figure out what he's going to do to make this better.

_Roundhouse_

'Great dress rehearsal everyone, this show is going to be the best show this theatre has every seen,' the director says.

All four of them start to smile at the director as he comes up onto the stage.

'Brenda, I really don't like the dress we have you changing into though. We're going to have to find another one. Mary? Can you come out here for a second?' he yells offstage.

Mary, the costumer, comes out from behind the curtain.

'Do we have anything else to put Brenda in for the change? I don't really like this dress. It doesn't work for me and it seems like it's kind of difficult for her to move around in,' he says.

'We have a few in the back, but I don't think any of them really work,' she says.

'Can you guys get together and go shopping for something? I really want something that screams sexy, dangerous, but sophisticated enough for a woman of Martha's age to be wearing,' he says.

'Sure, no problem,' Mary says. 'Brenda, when are you free tomorrow?'

'Um, well,' Brenda thinks about her schedule, 'I have class until 3:30pm and then I was supposed to meet some friends before rehearsal,' she says.

'Can you meet me across the street at 4:30pm so that we can find something for you to wear?' Mary asks her.

Brenda sighs and then smiles quickly. 'Sure, I'll be there,' she says.

She goes into the dressing room to change out of her costume and looks at herself in the mirror.

'_This is what you wanted right?'_

She starts to wipe the makeup off of her face and tears up as she sees the dark circles under her eyes appear through the foundation.

She changes quickly, grabs her bags, and drives herself to Dylan's house.

Dylan hears a car pull up to his house. He immediately starts to try to calm himself down as he hears the car door shut. He unclenches his fists, sits down on the couch, picks up a book, and bites the inside of his lip to contain his frustration and anger.

Brenda opens the door to see him sitting on the couch reading a book. He looks up as she comes through the door.

Dylan puts on a happy face for her and tries to sound upbeat.

'Hey baby, how was the dress rehearsal tonight?' he asks her.

She looks at him and can't help the overflowing tears from running down her face. He sees her standing there with her bags in her hand, crying and jumps up quickly off of the couch. He walks to her and wraps both arms around her body and holds her close.

'It's okay,' he says, feeling his anger melt away from him. 'It's going to be okay.'

She drops her bags, wraps her arms around his back and continues to cry into his shoulder.

'I can't do this anymore. I'm so tired, my friends hate me, I have dark circles under my eyes, I never get to see you, I'm falling asleep in class,' she says.

'Sssssh, baby, it'll all be over soon. You're seeing me right now, and your friends don't hate you,' he says, trying to be convincing.

'Yeah, well, they will tomorrow, if they don't already,' she says and pulls back from him.

'What do you mean?' he asks her.

'I was supposed to meet Kelly and Donna to talk about the sorority talent show act that we're doing in two weeks. The show takes place from like noon until midnight or something and Kelly worked it out that we could be one of the first acts, so that I could get home and get ready for the show on Saturday night,' Brenda explains.

'Okay,' Dylan says.

'Well, the director decided that he didn't like one of my costume pieces, so I have to go with the costumer to the store and find a new dress, which means I have just enough time to get to the Pit, tell them I can't stay, and then run down to the theatre,' she says as her face falls.

Dylan breathes in and lets the breath out slowly. He puts his arms back around her body as she starts to cry again. They stand in his living room holding each other for a long time as Brenda cries.

Dylan rubs her back and starts to think about the nasty things Kelly will say about Brenda tomorrow after she stands them up.

He tightens his grip around her body and kisses the top of her head.

She pulls away from him and walks over to get a tissue to wipe her face.

'Bren?' he says softly. She turns around to face him.

'Do you have any work you have to get done tonight?' he asks her.

'Actually, I don't,' she says. 'I read up for tomorrow during my dinner break.'

'Good,' he says. He takes her hand and leads her to the bedroom. He sits her down on the bed and takes her shoes off.

'Baby, just relax okay, I'm going to make you some tea,' he says.

She nods at him with tears still in her eyes and watches him leave the room. She gets up and changes her clothes into something comfortable and sits on his bed with her back to the headboard.

She takes several deep breaths with her eyes closed trying to calm herself down. Dylan watches her from the hallway.

'Okay, just calm down. Everything is going to okay. Everything is going to be okay. Everything is going to be,' Brenda stops as the tears continue to roll down her face, 'okay.'

She continues to breathe slowly and wipes the tears away. She hears the tea kettle whistle and opens her eyes.

Dylan comes in with a steaming cup and places it on the bedside table. He sits next to her on the bed and grabs her hand.

'Dylan, I can't continue to do all of this. Something has got to give,' she says.

He looks at her and then down at the covers. She glances over at him and immediately squeezes his hand.

'Not you,' she says and leans over to kiss him on the cheek. 'I think this will be my last semester,' she says.

Dylan turns his head quickly to her. 'Bren, you can't drop out now. I know this is a lot for you to handle right now, but,' he starts to say.

She puts her hand up to stop him from talking. 'Dylan, I have given this a lot of thought. I would rather focus on my acting career than analyzing poetry and writing papers about American Literature. I can take acting classes anywhere, I don't need to be in school to do that,' she explains.

Dylan's face falls a little bit. Brenda leans over and picks up the cup of tea and sips it.

'Look at these bags under my eyes? I'm never going to get that sexy girl role with dark circles under my eyes,' she says, trying to lighten the mood a little.

He stares at her smiling back at him and can't help but smile too.

'Let's talk about this later, okay?' he says.

Brenda puts her cup of tea down and turns quickly to face him. She moves in to kiss him and pushes him down onto the bed. He smiles as she kisses him and wraps his arms around her.

'Oh my God, are we actually going to have sex?' he asks her.

Brenda smiles and hits him playfully in the chest. 'It hasn't been that long, Dylan,' she says.

He looks up at the ceiling and starts counting on his fingers. She laughs at him and pushes his hands out of the way.

She kisses him slowly with her hands on the sides of his face. He rubs her back, grabs her ass, and rolls her over.

He lies on top of her and brushes the hair off of her forehead and smiles.

She smiles back at him as he drops down quickly to capture her lips.


	30. Chapter 30

_**The Time of Our Lives**__** – Chapter 30**_

_The Peach Pit_

Kelly and Donna sit at a table waiting for Brenda to show up. She promised that she would be able to spend a little bit of time going over their act for the talent show.

'What about this song?' Kelly asks Donna.

'I don't know, Kel, I don't really like that one,' Donna says.

'Well, we'll see what Brenda thinks when she gets here,' Kelly says.

The door opens and they look up to see Brenda walk in slowly. Kelly and Donna exchange looks as Brenda gets closer to them.

Kelly notices right away that exhaustion has definitely taken its toll on her. Her face is dark, her eyes are slightly sunken and her hair is little messed up. She walks slowly to their table and tries to smile brightly when she gets there.

'Hi guys,' Brenda says.

'Hey, Bren,' Kelly says with a confused look on her face.

'What's wrong, Kel?' Brenda asks her.

'Brenda, you look,' Kelly starts to say.

Brenda looks down at the floor and then back up at her friends. 'I know, please don't say anything,' she says on the verge of tears.

Kelly quickly shifts her weight and picks up the paper that was lying on the table.

'What do you think of this song, Bren?' she says quickly.

Brenda looks at the paper and then back up at Kelly. 'I don't know about that one. I don't think I could pull that off,' she says and looks at her watch.

'Are you on a timer, Bren?' Donna asks innocently.

'Um, kind of, I can't stay as long as I thought I would be able to,' she says.

Kelly drops her head and sighs

'I'm sorry, you guys, I really am, but there was a last minute costume change for me and I have to go find something with the costumer this afternoon before rehearsal starts,' Brenda explains.

Donna smiles at her and puts her hand on top of Brenda's. 'It's okay, Bren, we understand. Don't we, Kel?' Donna says firmly in Kelly's direction.

Kelly nods her head quickly. 'Absolutely, at least let us order you some food to take with you,' she says.

Brenda smiles at her friend. 'Okay,' she says and orders a burger to go.

Brenda picks up the paper that Kelly had dropped on the table and looks at the list of songs she had written down.

'Ooh, how about this one?' Brenda says showing Kelly and Donna her choice.

'Yeah, that's perfect!' Donna says.

Kelly nods her approval with a smile.

'I'll work on the choreography,' Donna says. 'What should we wear?'

The girls talk about their act and try to flesh out as many details as possible before Brenda has to leave them.

'I'm sorry, guys, but I really have to go,' she says.

'Bren, what time does rehearsal end for you tonight?' Donna asks her.

'Usually around midnight,' she says.

'Listen,' Donna starts, looking over at Kelly, 'Why don't you come over to our place after you're done and we'll have a good old fashioned sleep over in the living room?'

Brenda smiles at her friend. Kelly looks from Brenda to Donna and then nods her head.

'Yeah, it'll be fun. We'll stay up for a few hours and talk about the act some more,' she says.

'Um,' Brenda stammers, 'okay.'

'Great, we'll be waiting for you,' Donna says.

Brenda leaves the Pit with her food and drives over to the theatre.

'Are you sure that's such a good idea, Don?' Kelly asks her after Brenda leaves.

'Come on, Kelly, you saw how she looked when she walked in here. She needs us right now. We can give her a makeover or something,' Donna says.

'Yeah,' Kelly says unconvincingly as she stares at the door.

_Roundhouse_

Brenda meets Mary at the store across the street from the theatre. Mary had picked out fifteen different dresses for Brenda to try on once she arrived.

By the tenth dress, Brenda was getting annoyed that they could not find one that fit the character and her perfectly.

'Okay, Brenda last two dresses coming in,' she hears Mary say as two more dresses appear over the door of the dressing room.

Brenda sighs and looks at the new dresses in the room. She passes over the first one and sets her eyes on the second one.

'Oh,' she says out loud.

'What? Is something wrong?' she hears Mary say.

'No, no, nothing's wrong. I think this one might work,' Brenda says and quickly puts the dress on. She steps out of the dressing room and Mary zippers the dress in the back. They walk toward the mirrors at the end of the little hallway in the dressing area.

'Oh, Brenda, this is perfect. Turn around,' Mary says. Brenda turns slowly, looking in the mirrors to see how the dress fits in the back.

'I think this is the one, Mary,' she says with a smile.

'Okay, let's get you out of this and get back to the theatre,' she says.

Brenda changes back into her clothes and walks back over to the theatre with Mary.

Brenda sees the director on stage working with Kate when she walks in. He looks up to see her heading toward them.

'So, did we find a Martha dress?' he asks.

Brenda nods her head at him.

'Great, let me see it,' he says.

'Oh, no, you have to wait just like everybody else. I want you honest opinion when you see it for the first time in context,' she says.

The director smiles at her and points her toward the dressing room. 'Go and get changed for the start of the show,' he says.

Brenda smiles at him and walks back to the dressing room.

She puts her things down and sits in front of the mirror. She puts a headband on to pull the hair off of her face and starts to put foundation on.

She looks down to grab a sponge and sees a note with her name on it sitting on the counter.

She looks around to see if anyone was in the room with her, but doesn't see anybody.

She picks up the note and opens it.

'_Bren, I just wanted to find a way to tell you how proud I am of you. I haven't been able to see you much over the last week, so I thought a letter might work for now. I was kind of upset for a while that you were not around and seemed to not want to be around, but I understand now what you've been doing and I am totally supportive. I can't wait to see the culmination of all of your hard work on opening night. I will be there right in the front row to cheer you on. Love always, your better half, Brandon_'

Brenda smiles and sniffles a little after reading Brandon's note. She picks up a tissue and wipes her eyes.

She continues to put her makeup on, smiling the entire time.

_Dylan's House_

Dylan paces back and forth trying to work through his feelings.

'Bren, I just want to start by saying that I have been supportive to you throughout this entire process. We said that we weren't going to lie to each other any more about how we feel, so there are a few things that I need to say,' Dylan says out loud while continuing to pace.

'No, no, that's not going to work. She's going to get pissed off right away,' he says. 'Damn.'

The phone begins to ring and he walks over to pick it up.

'Yeah?' he says into the phone.

'Hey, I'm on dinner break, so I thought I'd check in,' Brenda says to him.

'Oh, hey, Bren, did you talk to Kelly and Donna? Did you find a dress?' he asks her.

'Um, yes and yes,' she laughs at him. 'Donna invited me over after rehearsal to finish our conversation about the talent show, but I'm not sure if I should go or not. Kelly didn't seem that enthusiastic about it and I think she was just putting on a happy face for me,' Brenda tells him.

'Maybe she was, I thought you were going to come over here after rehearsal,' he says.

'Well, I was and I still plan on doing that, but do you think I should go over there?'

'I don't know, Bren,' Dylan says sadly. 'It's up to you.'

Brenda takes in Dylan's tone and tries to figure out if he's mad at her too.

'Okay, well, I better go, I'll see you later,' she says quickly.

'Yeah, bye,' he says and hangs up.

Dylan hangs up the phone and shakes his head. He picks the phone back up and dials over to the beach apartment.

'Hello?' Donna answers.

'Donna, it's Dylan,' he says.

'Uh, hi Dylan,' Donna says with surprise.

'Listen, I just talked to Brenda, she called while she was on a break from rehearsal. Did you guys invite her over tonight?' he asks her.

'Yeah, I thought it would be nice just to spend some girl time together. No offense, Dylan, but when Brenda came into the Pit to meet us this afternoon she looked like a ghost and she needs the tender loving care of her girlfriends. I have only seen her look that bad once and,' Donna says and then stops immediately.

'Uh, never mind,' she says quickly. 'Did you guys have plans?'

'Not really,' he says, 'I just wanted to make sure that you guys weren't going to give her a hard time. She's got enough to worry about.'

'The plan is to just hang out and talk about the talent show,' Donna says.

'Well, what about Kelly?' he asks. 'She's been saying some pretty nasty things about Brenda.'

'I will watch them, I promise,' she says. 'Don't worry about it.'

'Okay,' he says with an unsure tone.

'Look, I have to go, Jason is here,' she says. She hangs up the phone and answers the door to find Jason on the other side.

'Hi Donna, ready to go?' he asks her.

'Yes, I am, but remember, we have to be back by 11:30, I don't want to miss Brenda when she gets here,' Donna says.

'You got it,' he says.

Kelly watches Donna leave the apartment with Jason to go and see a movie. She picks up the phone and calls Brandon.

'Hey, I was hoping to hear from you today,' he says.

Kelly smiles and says, 'I need to vent, Brandon.'

'Vent about what?' he asks her.

'Brenda. Look, she's coming over tonight because Donna invited her and I'm still a little apprehensive about it. We haven't been connecting at all, I mean, I've barely said a few words to her in the last three weeks,' Kelly says.

'Kel, I know how you feel, but she's still Brenda. She may not have time for us right now, but she's still in there somewhere. We just have to be patient,' he says, trying not to start a fight with her.

'Yeah, I don't know if I can do that,' Kelly says.

'You're going to have to, Kel. If you bring that stuff up now, she's just going to shut down and then we'll never get her back,' he says.

'Yeah, maybe you're right,' she says, trying to be convincing.

_Roundhouse_

'Okay, guys that's a wrap for tonight. Tech rehearsal tomorrow and then we're up and running,' the director says.

Brenda breathes a sigh of relief and starts to walk off of the stage.

'Oh, Brenda?' the director says. She looks up at him and stops walking.

'You were right, the dress is perfect, and I'm glad I didn't see it before,' he says with a smile and pats her on the back.

'Thanks,' she says with a smile.

She goes into the dressing room and wipes off her makeup. She washes her face and changes her clothes and gets in the car.

She stares at the steering wheel for a few minutes trying to decide where to go. She looks at her watch and realizes that he let them out a lot earlier than she had expected. She decides to go home and drop her things off before heading back out.

She pulls up the driveway and enters her house. She says hi to her parents and goes up to her room. She drops her bag on the floor and picks out a pair of pajamas and clothes for the next day. She shoves them in a bag as she hears Brandon knock on the bathroom door.

'Bren?' he says.

Brenda looks over at Brandon and walks to where he is standing. She looks at him for a few seconds and then puts her arms around her brother.

'Thank you for the note, Brandon,' she says to him. 'It really meant a lot to me.'

Brandon smiles and hugs her tighter.

'You're welcome,' he says. 'Are you going over to Kelly and Donna's tonight?

'Um, yeah for a little while and then I'll be at Dylan's,' she says.

'Bren, listen, I know that you're working really hard, but please try to be a little open minded if they seem a little, well, annoyed with you,' he says, trying to warn her about Kelly's attitude.

'I don't see why they are so annoyed in the first place. It's not like I made plans with them and just decided not to show up for no good reason. I'm trying the best I can right now, and that's all I can say,' she says.

'I know, Bren, I just wanted to warn you,' he says.

'Warn me about what?' she asks him.

'Look, just try to have a good time and hopefully I'll see you tomorrow,' he says.

Brenda shakes her head at him and goes back to packing her bag. She grabs her school bag, her overnight bag, and a pillow and goes back down to the car.

She drives over to the beach apartment and tries to shake the frustration she was feeling after hearing what Brandon had to say.

'_Just let it go, they're your friends and they will understand.'_

She gets out of the car with her things and knocks on the door.

Donna opens the door with a flourish and a smile. 'Hey Bren!' she says.

Brenda smiles back at her. 'Hey Donna,' she says and drops her things on the floor in the living room.

Donna had come back from seeing a movie with Jason and had placed several blankets on the floor in the living room.

Kelly was in the kitchen waiting for the popcorn to finish popping when Brenda comes in and gives her a hug.

'Hey Kel,' she says.

Kelly hugs her back and can't help but smile a little. 'Hey,' she says. 'How was rehearsal?'

'Great! One more to go before opening night,' she says.

'Wow, that came quick, huh?' Kelly says.

'You have no idea how quick. I'm ready though. This is the show of a lifetime and I am going to be so happy when I can finally say that it's over,' she says.

They bring the popcorn into the living room and sit on the floor.

'So,' Donna says, 'I thought we'd start with a little tender loving care for our hands and feet.'

Donna gets up and brings three tubs of water over into the living room.

'I have added some essential oils to this very nice and warm water for us to soak in,' she says.

Brenda and Kelly exchange looks and then take off their socks and sit on the couch. They put their feet into the water and sigh.

'This feels great,' Brenda says. She leans her head back against the couch cushion and closes her eyes.

'Yeah,' Donna says. 'So, I have a question for both of you?'

'What's that, Don?' Kelly says.

'We're entering this talent contest, right?' she says.

'Right,' Brenda answers.

'Why are we picking something where we all have to sing? I don't know how to sing, do either of you?' she asks.

The girls look at each other for a few seconds and burst into laughter.

'That's a good point, Donna,' Brenda says through her laughter.

'Well, what do we know how to do that we're all really good at?' Kelly asks them.

They sit and think about it for a few minutes, but can't seem to come up with anything at all.

'Wow, we are wholly untalented,' Kelly says with a smile.

'There has got to be something we can do for the show,' Brenda says.

'What about a comedy skit or something?' Donna asks them. 'I used to do them with David all of the time, we could like recreate some classic scene or something.'

Brenda looks at her friends. _'More acting, huh?'_

'We could do that, I mean, what about something like the female version of the Three Stooges?' Kelly suggests.

'Yes! That's perfect! I'm going to find a good scene for us to do!' Donna says with excitement.

'What do you think, Bren?' Kelly asks her.

'Great, that's sound perfect,' Brenda says with as much enthusiasm as she can.

The girls finish their pedicures and sit on the floor talking to each other. Kelly and Donna start talking about all of the things that were happening on campus that Brenda knew nothing about.

'That sounded like it was fun to go to,' Brenda says about one of the theme party the sorority had.

'It was, I wish you could have been there with us,' Donna says.

'Yeah, me too,' she says sadly.

'Bren, are you sure that this schedule isn't actually killing you? I mean, are you going to have time to rehearse with us for this talent show?' Kelly asks her.

'Once the show goes up on Friday, I won't have rehearsal during the week, so I should have lots of time to be with you guys,' she says.

'Yeah, okay,' Kelly says, trying hard to believe it.

'Kel, I've already apologized for not being around much recently, what else do you want from me?' Brenda asks, standing up and folding her arms.

'She didn't mean it like that, Brenda. We're all just a little on edge,' Donna says, trying to smooth things over.

Kelly stands up suddenly and plants herself right in front of Brenda.

'Look, you're my friend and you have been for a long time. I've never held anything back from you so I'm just going to come right out and say this,' Kelly says with attitude.

'Never held anything back, huh, Kel? You might want to rethink that position,' Brenda says rudely and stands up as straight as she can to meet Kelly's stature.

'Fine, you're right. I did hold a few things back, but this time I'm not going to. You need to hear what a bad friend you have been over the past two months. You've been non-existent and when we do see you, you just brush us off like we'll take it. Well, you better figure out how to organize your life better, because we just might not be here next time,' Kelly says.

Brenda stares bullets back at Kelly. Donna stands up quickly and puts her hand on both of their shoulders. They both brush her hand off at the same time and continue to stare.

'You guys, this is not helping the situation at all. Okay, fine, you're angry at each other, but there is a mature, adult way to deal with this,' Donna says.

'Stay out of this Donna,' Kelly says.

Brenda looks at Donna and realizes that she doesn't need to add any more pressure to herself or to her friendship with Donna. She steps back from Kelly, grabs her bag, and throws a 'Thank you, Donna,' over her shoulder as she slams the front door shut.

She gets into the car and finds her way to Dylan's house. It's after one in the morning, but she figured that he would still be awake. She pulls up to his house and sees that all of the lights are still on. She grabs her overnight bag and walks through the front door.

Dylan hears the door open and Brenda call his name. He finishes up in the kitchen, wipes his hands off, and meets her in the living room.

She hugs him immediately and he waits for her to let go before he says anything.

'Things go alright with Kelly and Donna?' he asks.

She puts on a happy face, not wanting her bad mood to rub off on him, and says, 'Yeah, it was great, we gave ourselves pedicures and talked about the talent show.'

'_Well, she seems to be in a good mood, maybe this is a good time to talk to her about how I feel and what's been going on.'_


	31. Chapter 31

_**The Time of Our Lives**__** – Chapter 31**_

Dylan and Brenda sit down on the couch. She gets comfortable and picks up one of the pillows and puts it in her lap.

'Bren? There are some things I'd like to talk to you about, if you're not too tired,' Dylan starts.

She looks at him and nods her head. 'I'm not tired at all actually, it's kind of weird,' she says.

'Well, you know when we were in Italy and you said that this time around we have to be completely honest with each other for this to work?' he asks her.

She nods her head and squeezes the pillow in her lap a little bit with one hand.

'I really don't want you to take this the wrong way, but over the last two weeks, I've been feeling a little resentful. Not only was I making excuses for you as to why you couldn't be there to hang out with your friends, but I was making appointments for you too,' he says.

'I didn't really start to feel it until that day I went to have dinner with the gang at the Peach Pit and Kelly asks about when you would be free to meet with them. I had your schedule in my pocket, so that I knew where you were and what was going on and I pulled it out to see if you had any time. They all laughed at me. They laughed pretty hard and I realized at that moment that I did not want to be your secretary,' he continues.

'I don't want to be the one they come to when they're looking for you. I don't want to make excuses as to why you are not somewhere you told them you would be or where they think you should be. I don't want to make appointments for you to see your friends,' he says.

Brenda feels the pain well up in her chest. She had no idea that Dylan was even doing all of those things for her. She had not really been paying attention to how her schedule actually affected him in ways other than their relationship with each other.

She looks up at him and tries to hold it all inside.

'I'm sorry, Dylan. I didn't know that you were doing all of that for me,' she says.

'Yeah, well, I was and I don't think I can do it anymore. I don't want to resent you, but right now, I do,' he says sadly.

'Well, is there anything I can do now to make that not true?' she asks with hope.

He shakes his head. 'I don't think so, Bren, it's just going to take some time,' he says.

She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. 'Well, I think I'm going to leave you alone tonight. Thank you for telling me how you feel,' she says and gets up off of the couch.

She leans over him and kisses him briefly and walks over to where she dropped her bag.

'Bren,' he says.

'No, Dylan, it's okay, really,' she says, musters a weak smile, and walks out of his house.

She gets into the car and drives off down the street. She pulls up in front of her own house and lets the car idle.

'_Well, Brandon's mad at me, so I really don't want to go in there, Kelly's mad at me, so I can't go there to hang out with Donna, and Dylan's mad at me. I officially have no where to go.'_

She puts the car in gear and drives away.

_The Campus Café_

'Kelly, have you seen Brenda this morning?' Dylan asks her.

Kelly shakes her head. 'Why are you so worried, Dylan? She left our house to go to yours right?'

'Yeah, but she didn't stay and I just talked to Brandon and he said that she never came home last night,' Dylan says, the worry growing in his body. He had been up all night worried about her.

'I'm sure she's fine. She can take care of herself,' Kelly says and goes back to reading her book.

'Yeah, great, a lot of help you are,' he says and walks away.

Dylan stands outside of the theatre on campus knowing that Brenda has a class until 4. He paces back and forth waiting for her to come out. He starts to see people leaving the building, but doesn't see her.

When the last person comes out of the building, he stops her and asks if she had seen Brenda in class. She shakes her head and keeps walking.

Dylan's face falls and he sits down on the steps leading up to the theatre.

'Yeah, honesty, that was a really good idea,' he says out loud to himself. 'Where could she be?'

Dylan walks back over to the café and sees Brandon in line.

'Brandon, have you heard from Brenda at all today?' Dylan asks him.

'No, man, I haven't. You haven't found her yet?' Brandon asks with surprise.

Dylan shakes his head. 'I'm really worried about her now. She hasn't been to any of her classes today.'

'She'll turn up. I'm sure she just needed a break from everyone. Donna told me that Brenda and Kelly had it out last night and I felt really bad because I kind of put my foot in my mouth and got her a little mad at me before she left the house to go over there,' Brandon reveals.

Dylan puts his hand up to his mouth and slowly closes his eyes. 'Oh, God, what have I done?' he says, feeling a slight pang of nausea in his stomach.

'Dylan, what are you talking about?'

'She fought with you before she left your house, then she went over to Kelly and Donna's and fought with Kelly, and then,' he stops.

'She went over to your house and fought with you,' Brandon finishes. 'It sounds like she had a really bad day yesterday.'

'We didn't really fight, I just told her something that wasn't too pleasing and she left. I really hope she's alright,' Dylan says with a very worried look on his face.

'I'm sure she's fine, Dylan, really. She just needed some time away from all of us,' Brandon assures him.

'Yeah, well, if you see her, tell her to call me, okay?' he says. 'I'm going home right now.'

'Sure,' Brandon says as he watches Dylan walk away.

Dylan pulls up to his house and runs inside. He sees the light from the answering machine blinking and hits it quickly.

Brenda's voice comes through the speaker and Dylan listens with hope of figuring out where she went, until he realizes that this must be the message he didn't listen to a few days ago.

He sits on the couch, stares out the window, and waits.

_Casa Walsh_

Brandon comes through the door seeing the car that Brenda was driving sitting in the driveway. He runs up to her room and looks inside, but doesn't see her.

Cindy walks past him in the hallway and says, 'She's not here, Brandon.'

'Did you see her today?' Brandon asks with hope.

'No, I didn't. When I got home from the market the car was here, but she was already gone. I figured Dylan picked her up or something,' Cindy says nonchalantly and walks down the stairs.

Brandon goes into his room and drops his books on the desk. He turns to go into the bathroom and sees a note on his pillow. He breathes a sigh of relief and picks it up.

'_Brandon, for whomever is asking about me, tell them I'm just fine. The show opens tomorrow night so I won't be hanging out with anyone tonight. I'll probably be at the theatre very late tonight, so if I don't see you, goodnight. Brenda'_

Brandon picks up the phone and calls Dylan immediately.

'Hello?' Dylan says hoping to hear Brenda's voice on the other end of the line.

'Dylan, it's Brandon. I just got home and the car is here, but she's not. She left me a note though,' Brandon says.

'A note? What does it say?'

'It says not to worry about her, that she's fine, and that she'll be at the theatre really late tonight, since the show opens tomorrow,' he says.

'That's it?' Dylan says.

'Yeah, that's it. I'm sorry that I don't have more information for you, but that's the best I can do right now,' he says.

'Thanks, Brandon, for calling. Maybe I'll go down to the theatre and see if I can catch her later,' Dylan says and hangs up the phone.

Brandon hangs up and flops down on his bed.

_Roundhouse_

'Okay, that's a wrap for the tech rehearsal. Good job guys, I think we finally got the lighting down for that father scene in the middle,' the director says.

He beckons the cast over to where he is standing. He puts his arms around them as they form a circle.

'We are ready, they are ready, and the audience won't know that this is not Broadway tomorrow night. Congratulations to all of you on a job well done. Call is at 7, now get the hell out of here and get a good night's sleep,' he says.

They break from each other and Brenda walks down to the seats to grab her things.

'Ready to go, Brenda?' Chris asks her.

'Yes, thank you again for offering to drive me,' she says.

'It's not a problem, I'm just glad that we're getting out of here while the sun is still up,' he jokes.

'Yeah, me too,' she says, 'me too.'

_Dylan's House_

Dylan waits until about eleven o'clock before he leaves the house. He gets in his car and drives down to the Roundhouse Theatre, only to see that it's dark and there are no cars in the parking lot.

'What the hell?' he says out loud. He starts the car back up and drives over to the Walsh house.

Brandon answers the door and sees a very nervous Dylan on the other side.

'Dylan, come on in, what brings you here?' he says.

'Brandon, I just drove by the theatre to see if I could catch Brenda at the end of her rehearsal,' he says.

'Yeah,' Brandon says.

'Well, the theatre is dark and there are no cars in the parking lot,' he says firmly.

Brandon stares at Dylan confused. 'What does that mean?'

'That means that she lied to you and that she's not going to be at the theatre late,' he says with anger.

'Dylan, maybe rehearsal ended early and she's on her way here right now,' he says.

'Yeah, right,' Dylan says.

'Sorry, man,' Brandon says. 'I wish I could tell you where she was, but I just don't know.'

'Aren't you a little worried?' Dylan asks him.

'Yeah, I'm a lot worried, but there is nothing I can do about it. I can drive around town calling her name at the top of my lungs, but that's not going to help,' Brandon says.

'I guess you're right. I'm going to take off then,' he says and leaves the house.

_Andrea's Apartment_

'Thanks for letting me stay with you tonight,' Brenda says. 'I think you may be the only person that doesn't hate me right now.'

'No problem, Brenda, I hope you don't mind the couch,' Andrea says.

'It'll do just fine. Thank you so much,' she says.

'Brenda,' Andrea says as she sits on the couch next to her, 'I just want to say that I completely understand where you are coming from and don't agree with anyone who thinks that you're a bad friend.'

'I know that things have been difficult and it's always easier when you have your friends around, but I didn't think that they would ever treat me or even Dylan like that. I really just need to get a good night's sleep before tomorrow and I knew that I wasn't going to get that at home or at Dylan's house,' Brenda admits.

'Well, my lips are sealed and the couch is comfortable, I hope you're able to get to sleep,' Andrea says. 'What time do you need to get up?'

'Well, I'm not going to classes tomorrow. I've already handed in my work for my poetry class this afternoon, so I'll probably be up early and out of your hair by 8, so that I can focus on channeling my energy toward the show,' Brenda says.

'Then I'll see you tomorrow morning,' Andrea says. 'Goodnight.'

'Goodnight,' Brenda says with a smile.

She curls up on Andrea's couch and pulls the blanket up over her shoulder. She relaxes into the cushions and falls into a deep sleep.

_The Peach Pit – the next morning_

Brenda walks in to the Peach Pit and sits at the counter, waiting for Nat to recognize that she's there.

He turns around to get the coffee pot and sees her.

'Brenda! What are you doing here this early?' he asks.

'Andrea dropped me off for some good old fashioned energy breakfast,' she says with a smile.

'What do you need an energy breakfast for?' he asks, pouring her a cup of coffee.

'The show that I've been working on over the last few months is opening tonight,' she tells him.

'Oh, right, right, the flyer is over there on the board. I already have my ticket,' he says with a smile, patting his apron.

'You're coming? That's great, Nat,' she says.

'Brenda, honey, I wouldn't miss it for the world,' he says. 'One high energy breakfast coming up.'

_Casa Walsh_

'Brandon, what time will you be home tonight? Should we wait for you or are you going to drive over to the theatre on your own?' Cindy asks him.

'I think I'll drive over on my own. I may be up at the campus late tonight,' he says.

'Okay, well here is your ticket,' Cindy says, handing it to him. 'The show starts at 8pm so don't be late.'

'I won't, Mom. See you later,' he says.

_The Campus Café_

Brandon walks up to his friends sitting at one of the tables.

'So, Bran, is Brenda totally freaking out that the show opens tonight?' Steve asks.

Brandon looks at him with a saddened expression.

'I don't know, Steve, I haven't seen her,' he says.

Kelly looks at him and puts her hand on his arm. 'What happened?' she asks.

'Well, it seems as though everyone, including me, thought it would be a good idea to tell Brenda how they felt about her all on the same night and she disappeared,' he says.

'What do you mean?' Donna asks.

'The night Brenda came over to your house, she and I had a little tiff before she left the house to go to rehearsal,' he says.

'Oh, and then Kelly started in on her while she was at our house,' Donna says.

'Yeah, and then Dylan dropped a bomb on her too when she went over there after leaving your house,' Brandon tells them.

'What kind of bomb?' Kelly asks him.

'I don't know, but we really screwed up this time and no one has seen her since then,' Brandon says.

Donna and Steve look over at Kelly, who is trying to hide her face.

'You guys, we are all guilty at this point of either saying some pretty mean things to Brenda's face, behind her back, or making Dylan feel like he's some kind of lackey. We have to make things right. It's not their fault,' Brandon says firmly, looking around the table.

Kelly looks up at Brandon and sees the intense stare he is giving her. She drops her head and looks down at her hands.

Steve shifts his weight from one foot to the other and stares at the ground.

'Maybe we should get her some flowers or something that we could throw up on stage when she makes her bow at the end of the show tonight?' Donna asks.

Brandon nods his head. 'Yeah, that's a good idea,' he says.

'I don't think I'm going to make it to the show,' Steve says. 'You'll have to do that without me.'

Kelly nods her head. 'I have a lot of work to do tonight, I don't think I'm going to make it either,' she says quickly and gets up to leave the table.

'Wait up, Kel,' Steve says and joins her as they walk away.

Brandon watches them go and shakes his head. Donna puts her hand on top of Brandon's hand.

'Don't worry, Brandon, I'll talk to them. David said he was coming too and so is Jason, Lily, and Sean, so we don't need them,' Donna says.

'Yeah,' Brandon says sadly.

_Roundhouse Theatre_

Brenda sits in the dressing room running over her lines while she puts her makeup on. One of the crew members comes in and puts down a vase full of roses for her.

'Oh, thank you,' she says and pulls the card off.

'_Bren, Break a leg. I love you and I'm so proud of you. Dylan'_

Brenda smiles at the card and leans up to smell the roses.

'Wow, nice roses,' Chris says as he sits next to her and starts to put on his makeup.

'Thanks,' Brenda says.

'Dylan, I presume?'

'Of course,' she says with a smile.

Cindy and Jim walk into the theatre and find seats close to the front. They start looking around for Brenda's friends and Brandon, but don't see them yet.

The lights start to flicker, indicating that the show would begin in 5 minutes, and Cindy finally sees Dylan walk in. He spots them and moves to where they are sitting.

'Dylan, you look great,' Cindy says.

'Thanks,' he says looking down at his suit that he bought specifically for the show. He wanted to look really good when Brenda saw him.

Dylan sits down, but keeps looking behind him at the people walking in.

'Are you looking for someone in particular?' Jim asked.

'Yeah, I have a surprise for Brenda,' he says and then pauses. He smiles and continues, 'That just walked in.'


	32. Chapter 32

_**The Time of Our Lives**__** – Chapter 32**_

Iris makes her way down the aisle and sits down next to Dylan after giving Cindy and Jim a hug.

'Iris, what a great surprise! Brenda will be thrilled that you are here,' Cindy says.

Brandon walks in as he sees the lights flicker again, with Donna, David, Jason, Lily, and Sean trailing behind him.

The lights go down and then they hear Brenda's voice coming through the darkness to start the show.

A few minutes go by before Kelly and Steve make their way down the aisle to sit with their friends.

Steve nods at Brandon as he finds an empty seat and sits down. Lily moves over one seat closer to Steve to let Kelly sit next to Brandon. She looks at him and mouths the words 'I'm sorry', genuinely smiles, and looks at the stage when she hears Brenda's voice. Brandon looks at her for a few seconds, smiles, and grabs her hand.

Dylan stares at Brenda the entire time she is on the stage. He never lets his eyes off of her, even when she's not speaking. He sits amazed at how easily she floats around the stage, watching her expressions and her interaction with the rest of the characters.

Intermission comes and Dylan gets up to get some air. He stands outside trying to comprehend what he had just seen when he hears some familiar voices.

'Did you see her? Oh my God, she is incredible. I had no idea she was that good of an actress. I mean, that character is nothing like her, yet she plays it so naturally,' Donna says.

Dylan turns around to see them. He tries to hide the tears in his eyes as they come closer to him.

'Dylan, did you have any idea what this play was about?' Steve asks him.

'Um, yeah, they read through it in my house when Brenda first landed the role,' he says and looks over at Jason, Lily, and Sean.

'It was intense just reading through it, but seeing it live is incredible. The play and these characters just penetrate actors to the core. I wonder how they'll be able to get rid of them once the show is over,' Sean says.

Jason and Lily both nod in understanding.

'Wait, what? What does that mean?' Kelly asks them.

'Well, when you play such a distinctive, intense, strong character, that goes through almost every emotion while the play progresses, it's hard to get rid of them once the show is over. Some characters are so strong that it's really not easy to let them go. You have to put that character to bed somehow and for a while you feel empty because you know that character is dead once you stop playing them on stage,' Jason says.

'That is way too creepy for me,' Steve says and goes back into the theatre.

Dylan stands and listens to what Sean and Jason have to say. He wonders how Brenda will deal with that after the run of this show is complete.

'Brenda's character is kind of quietly insane, though, how do get rid of that?' Dylan asks them.

Jason sighs, Sean shrugs his shoulders, and Lily gives him a weak smile.

'She'll figure it out, don't worry, Dylan,' Lily says as they make their way back inside.

Dylan looks over at Brandon who looks as though someone stunned him. He's not moving and he's barely breathing.

'Brandon,' Dylan says loudly. Brandon jerks his head in Dylan's direction and tries to focus on him.

'Brandon, are you okay?' Dylan asks him.

'Yeah, yeah, I'm alright,' he says, recovering a little.

'What are you thinking about?' Dylan asks him as the others walk back inside.

'I was just thinking of how amazingly talented she is and how moronic I feel for questioning anything she's done in the past few weeks,' he says.

'Yeah, I think everyone else is feeling that way too, let's just hope they let her know that,' he says and puts his arm around Brandon.

They walk back inside to take their seats for the second half of the show.

Brenda stands on the stage in the arms of Chris and says her last line with tears in her eyes. She watches as the lights slowly fade and then silence. As Brenda and Chris walk off of the stage holding each other in the dark, they begin to hear the thunderous applause they were all hoping would come.

The stage manager hands them both a tissue so that they can wipe their faces before the curtain call. Brenda carefully wipes the tears from her eyes and takes a deep breath.

Kate walks out on the now lighted stage to take her curtain call, followed by Joe. Chris gives her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek before walking out onto the stage. Brenda hears the audience roar as he bows. She waits a few seconds and then enters the stage from the wing.

She walks to the center, looks out onto the audience, who is now on their feet and takes her bow. She smiles broadly and then hooks arms with Chris and Joe as they take the cast bow.

They finally make their way off of the stage and hug each other. The crew members fly around them cleaning up the props and putting everything back where it belongs for the next show as the four of them hold onto each other for dear life.

They finally part and make their way back to the dressing rooms. Brenda quickly changes her clothes and takes off as much makeup as she can. She walks back toward the stage to greet her parents, who are standing on the stage talking to the director. Jim sees her coming first and plasters a huge smile on his face.

'Oh, sweetheart, you were incredible,' he says and embraces her.

'Thanks, Dad,' she says.

'Honey, this is the best thing I've seen you in yet. You shined up on this stage tonight,' Cindy says with tears in her eyes.

'Oh, Mom, please don't cry,' she says and hugs her mother.

'I have to agree, I was a little teary-eyed myself,' Iris says from behind Brenda.

Brenda turns quickly to see Iris standing in front of her.

'Oh my God, Iris!' she says and hugs her.

'Brenda, you were wonderful,' Iris says.

'I can't believe you're here. How did you know?' Brenda asks her.

Dylan comes walking up and stands beside his mother. 'I couldn't let her miss your big debut, now could I?' he says with a smile.

Brenda's face lights up and she almost jumps into his arms. He wraps both arms around her and spins her around. He kisses the side of her head and whispers in her ear.

'I have never been more proud of you than I am at this moment. You blew me away,' he says.

Brenda feels the tears start to well up in her eyes as Dylan holds onto her. They finally part as she sees all of her friends coming up onto the stage.

Kelly stops in front of her and Brenda can see that the play affected her too. She had definitely been crying and Brenda offers a weak smile.

Kelly holds her arms out and Brenda leans in to hug her.

'I am so sorry, Brenda,' she says.

'Me too, Kel,' Brenda replies.

Donna comes up behind Brenda and joins in the hug. The three girls part, smiling at each other.

'Brenda, that was even better than your scene at RADA, and I thought nothing could top that,' Jason says and hugs her.

'Thanks, Jason.'

'What are you talking about? It wasn't just better, it blew that performance out of the sky. You have real talent, Brenda. I am so glad I got to see you perform again,' Lily says to her.

'Brenda, I don't know what to say. I'm impressed and I'm really glad I came to the show tonight,' Sean says.

'We're all really glad we came,' Brandon pipes in. He taps Steve on the shoulder and then walks over to where Brenda is standing and pulls her into his arms.

'You were incredible. I didn't know you had that in you,' he says to her.

'Neither did I, Brandon.'

Brenda gathers the rest of her things as everyone decides to meet up at the Peach Pit for a late night dessert.

Dylan grabs her hand and kisses it as they are walking back to his car. They get in and watch everyone else leave the parking lot.

'Bren,' Dylan starts to say, wanting to explain himself to her and ask her if she was alright.

'Dylan, don't say anything right now, okay?' she says and leans over to kiss him. She puts her hand on the back of his head as he reaches his arm around her back.

She continues to kiss him and caress his face as she feels him melt into her.

'Now,' she says, pulling away, 'take me to the Peach Pit, I need some of that homemade pie.'

Dylan smiles at her and revs the engine. He peels out of the parking lot and drives to the Pit.

Brenda and Dylan walk hand in hand into the Pit. Everyone turns to their heads toward them as the door bell chimes and they begin to clap again.

Brenda's cheeks begin to flush and she pulls Dylan closer to her.

'Come on, Bren, you can't get shy now,' he says with a smile. They walk over to where Nat is holding up a piece of pie on a dish with a candle in it.

'I know it's not a birthday, but I think the candle adds a nice to touch. Job well done, kid,' he says to Brenda.

Brenda smiles and hugs Nat. 'I didn't see you there, Nat, were you hiding?' she asks him.

'Yeah, I didn't want to get in the way or anything. I am so glad I went,' he says and kisses her on the forehead.

She takes the pie and blows the candle out.

Kelly sits across from Brenda and tries not to make eye contact with her. Brenda talks about the show and starts to answer Jason and Lily's questions about her character and the interaction between the cast.

'So, have you figured out how you're going to get rid of crazy Martha?' Sean asks her.

Brenda produces a weak smile and looks from Jason, to Lily, and then to Sean. She slowly shakes her head.

'It'll come to you,' Lily says and rubs Brenda's shoulder.

'Yeah,' Brenda says half-heartedly.

Donna walks over to the table and smiles brightly.

'Um, Bren,' she starts to say, 'can I talk you to for a moment?'

'Sure, Donna,' Brenda says and gets up from the table. She follows Donna outside and watches her as she begins to pace a little.

'Don, what's wrong?'

'I'm nervous, Bren. David hasn't said a word to me all night. He just keeps giving the death glare to Jason,' she says.

'Donna, honey,' Brenda says, putting her hands on both of Donna's shoulders to keep her from pacing, 'this is what you wanted. You wanted to be friends with both of them until you could figure out whether or not you actually want to date them.'

'I know, but why does it feel as if they have figured out how to handle it already and I'm still getting knots in my stomach?'

'All they can do is wait for you. You're the one with the major decision to make,' Brenda says.

Donna wrinkles her face a little bit.

'Donna, you make that decision whenever you're ready to make it. There is no reason for you to be freaking out instead of having a good time. If David wants to be a statue all night, let him. Jason doesn't seem to care,' Brenda says.

'Yeah, I guess you're right,' Donna finally says after a long pause.

The door opens and the girls turn to see Dylan's head poking around the edge.

'Hey, ladies, is everything alright?' he asks them.

Brenda looks back at Donna, who nods, smiles and then goes back inside.

Dylan comes out of the door, followed by Kelly.

'Dylan, do you mind if I talk to Brenda for a second? It won't take long, I promise,' she says.

'Um,' he looks at Brenda, who nods slightly, 'yeah, sure.' He kisses Brenda's hand and goes back inside.

'Bren, I just wanted to say again that I'm really sorry for being a bitch to you. I didn't realize how much you really did have going on and I'm sorry,' Kelly says.

'Thanks, Kel. I really appreciate that,' Brenda says.

'I almost didn't come tonight,' Kelly says and looks up to meet Brenda's eyes. 'I stood in front of the mirror debating whether or not to even get dressed for a good hour. Steve called and told me that he had decided to go to the show and that he was dragging me with him whether I liked it or not. I guess that's what I needed to get myself moving,' she admits.

'Steve wasn't going to come either?' Brenda asks her.

'He said that he always regretted not seeing opening night of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and swore that he would never miss another opening night of any play that you were in,' she tells Brenda.

Brenda smiles a little bit and nods her head in understanding.

Kelly takes one of her hands and holds it.

'You were the most talented actor on that stage tonight. I don't know how you keep that crazy woman inside of you, but when you let her out, the whole audience was immediately sucked in,' Kelly says.

'I know that I really haven't been the most supportive friend, but I promise I will leave the petty stuff at the door from now on,' she says.

Brenda begins to tear up and Kelly pulls her into a hug. They stand there for a few minutes before hearing the door open once again.

'Can I get in on this?' Brandon says and runs over to join them.

'Me too,' Steve says, followed by the rest of the gang. They squeeze each other for a few seconds and then part.

'Thank you guys so much for making this one of the best nights of my life. I am so glad that all of you came to see what has been taking up all of my time. Now, I think I need to get to sleep so that I can do it all over again tomorrow night!' Brenda says.

Her friends laugh a little and hug her as they leave. Dylan stands by her side and leads her over to the car.

'I hope you're not too tired just yet,' he says and drives off out of the parking lot.

_The Beach Apartment_

Donna, Kelly, Brandon, David, Steve, Sean, Lily, and Jason pull up to the beach apartment.

'Okay, I say we break out the beers and play games until we pass out,' Steve says.

Kelly looks over at Brandon as the rest of the gang goes into the apartment.

'Brandon?' she says tentatively.

He stops walking and turns to look at her.

'I apologized to Brenda a few times and now I want to apologize to you. I'm so sorry for acting the way that I did and I promise never to do it again,' she says to him.

Brandon looks at her and then down at the ground.

'I just wanted to say that and to make sure that you knew that I'm aware that I've been a bitch over the last few weeks,' she admits.

'Thank, Kel, for saying that. I know that we're all adjusting to being in college and I admit that I lost sight of what was important there for a while too, but we just have to try a little harder next time,' he says with a weak smile.

Kelly nods at him and smiles. She takes a step closer to him and he slowly puts his arm around her waist and pulls her to him.

'I missed you,' she says seductively and starts to kiss him.

'Do you think it would be rude to kick everyone out right now?' Brandon asks her.

Kelly laughs and shakes her head at him. 'Let's go,' she says as she leads him into the apartment.

_Dylan's House_

Brenda relaxes on Dylan's couch with Iris, as he comes into the room with a cup of tea for them.

'Brenda, I can't tell you how impressed I was watching you up there tonight,' Iris says, sipping from her cup.

Brenda smiles and looks over at Iris. 'Thank you, Iris. You have no idea how happy I am that you're here,' she says.

'Well, Dylan called me a few weeks ago to tell me what was going on and suggested that I come up and surprise you for the show,' Iris says looking over at Dylan, who was staring at the floor.

'A few weeks ago? You've been hiding this for a few weeks?' Brenda asks him.

Dylan lifts his head, smiles at her, and raises his eyebrows.

'Well,' Iris says, hearing a car honking out in the street, 'I don't know about you two, but I am exhausted. I'm going to head to the hotel now.'

'Mom, you could have stayed here you know?' Dylan says.

'I know dear,' Iris says and winks at him. 'I will see you tomorrow.'

She grabs her bags, kisses her son, and makes her way out to the taxi that is waiting for her.

Dylan watches the taxi drive off and then shuts the door. He walks over to the couch and sits down next to Brenda. She puts her tea cup on the table and turns her head to look at him.

He grabs one of her hands and strokes her fingers.

'Bren, are you alright?' he asks her. 'I was really worried about you yesterday and all day today.'

She watches his fingers caressing hers and looks up to meet his eyes. She nods slowly and then looks back down at her hand.

'I just needed some time away from everyone, Dylan. I was getting hit from all sides and I just couldn't deal with that and preparing for tonight at the same time,' she says.

'Where did you stay last night? Brandon said that you never came home after you left here,' Dylan asks her.

'I drove around for a while trying to find a place that didn't contain someone that was mad at me. I finally ended up at Andrea's and she let me sleep on her couch. I think it's been the best night's sleep I've had in the last couple of months,' Brenda admits.

'I wasn't mad at you, Bren, you could have come back here,' he says.

'Dylan, you needed a break as much as I did, okay? I know you were worried about me, but I was fine then, and I'm fine now. I'm sorry that you had to go through all of that with our selfish friends,' she says and finally looks at him.

'I just wanted to be honest and all I really want is for you to be happy,' he says to her.

Brenda smiles at him and laces her fingers with his. 'I am happy, Dylan. As soon as this semester is over, I'll be even happier.'

'You're really going to drop out?' he asks her.

Brenda nods her head. 'School just isn't the right place for me. I really want to take my acting to the next level and I just don't think being in school is beneficial.'

'Have you told your parents yet?' he asks her.

'No, not yet,' she says. 'I have time for that.'

Dylan moves his body to get closer to her. He wraps one arm around her shoulders as she leans in and lays her head on his chest.

'Baby, I love you and I just want you to know that I'll be here to support whatever decision you make,' he says.

Brenda lifts her head up and brings her hand up to his face. He leans down to kiss her and tightens his grip around her body.


	33. Chapter 33

_**The Time of Our Lives**__** – Chapter 33**_

_The Beach Apartment_

'Okay, so who wants to play a few drinking games? Maybe a few of the ones that Brenda taught us?' Steve asks, shuffling a deck of cards.

Jason sits down on the floor next to Donna and takes a sip of beer.

'Brenda taught you drinking games?' Jason says, surprised.

Sean and Lily share in Jason's confusion and look around at Brenda's friends for an explanation.

'Yeah, why is that weird?' Steve asks.

'Well, when we were in London, she never joined in the drinking festivities with us,' Sean admits.

'I guess some things have changed. Kings anyone?' Steve asks.

'Okay, Steve, but this time can we at least all be drinking the same thing? Last time that cup was nasty and I almost threw up,' Donna says.

'You got it,' he says and places a cup in the middle of the floor. He surrounds the cup with the entire deck and waits for everyone to sit down.

Kelly and Brandon come through the door and stand in the living room watching Steve set up the game.

'Brandon, are you in?' Steve calls to him.

He looks up at Kelly who is looking back at him.

'Let's do it,' Kelly says and throws her purse on the kitchen counter.

_Dylan's House_

Dylan holds Brenda close to him and tries to fall asleep. Every time he closes his eyes he sees her on the stage looking incredible. He shifts his body a little and Brenda turns herself around to face him.

'Dylan, are you asleep?' she asks softly.

'No,' he replies.

She puts her hand up to his face and kisses him slowly.

'I know this has been a crazy couple of weeks. I'm sorry that I haven't had much time to spend with you. I miss just relaxing and talking and watching old movies,' she says.

'Yeah, me too,' Dylan says with a sigh.

'I was just thinking about you up there on that stage. You really were incredible tonight. I felt every emotion you had throughout the play. Is it really true what Sean and all them were saying?'

'What were they saying?' Brenda asks.

'You know, about getting rid of certain characters?'

Brenda smiles and kisses him again. 'Yeah, it's true. With all of the time and effort an actor spends on getting into characters, sometimes it's really hard to get out of them,' she tells him.

'What are you going to do?'

'I don't know, I can't really think about that right now. I have to be this woman for the next few weeks, so I can't let her go yet. It'll be fine, don't worry,' she tries to reassure him.

'Bren,' Dylan starts to say, but is interrupted by Brenda pulling his face closer and kissing him.

She kisses him slowly and wraps her arm around his neck. 'Sssssh,' she says.

He smiles back at her and nods his head. 'Yes, ma'am,' he says and starts to kiss her again.

_The Beach Apartment_

'Okay, guys, that's enough for me. I need to get to bed. We've got an early rehearsal tomorrow,' Sean says.

'Come on, it's only our third game,' Steve says, slurring his words a little.

'Try our like tenth game, Steve,' Brandon says with a smile. Steve starts to laugh as he taps Brandon's beer can with his own and downs the rest of it.

Sean and Lily stand up and start saying their goodbyes. Jason gets up and goes to the kitchen to say goodbye to Donna.

'Well, looks like this train is leaving,' he says with a smile.

Donna smiles up at him. 'Thanks for hanging out with us,' she says and gives him a big hug.

He closes his eyes and wraps his arms around her body and squeezes her a little.

'See you soon,' he says with a wink and follows Sean and Lily outside.

Donna walks back into the living room with a smile plastered on her face. David stares at her from across the room and drinks the rest of his beer. The room's edges start to go fuzzy and he tries really hard to focus his eyes.

'So, what's next?' Kelly asks Steve.

'Strip poker?' Steve suggests, raising his eyebrows.

'Oh, yeah right, Steve. I don't think so. We don't even have an even number of girls and guys,' Donna says.

'Alright, fine,' he says.

'Why?' David says out loud.

They all turn their heads in his direction when he finally speaks.

'Why what, David?' Brandon asks him, a little confused.

David just stares at Donna with a hurtful expression on his face. Kelly looks back and forth between them trying to anticipate what's about to happen.

'Donna, I love you. I don't think I can take much more of this. I don't think we can really be friends,' David slurs.

'David, why are you saying that?' Donna asks him.

'Okay, now is not a good time to having this conversation. You've both been drinking and,' Kelly starts to say.

'Shut up, Kel,' David says slowly. He takes a few minutes to stand up from the chair he was sitting in and puts his beer can down.

'I'm leaving,' he says.

'David, where are you going?' Brandon asks, standing up in front of him.

'Anywhere but here,' David says and pushes past Brandon.

'You guys all lied to me and told me that it would be alright. Well, it's not alright,' David says standing by the door.

Donna gets up from the floor and slowly walks toward him.

'David, come on, you're being unfair,' she says.

'Unfair? Really? You know what's unfair? You. You are unfair. I can't wait anymore and I won't sit around and watch you parade around with that guy. You need to make up your mind. Now,' David says firmly.

'David, you have no right to put demands on me. You lost any inkling of say in what I do when you decided to get it on with that recording company slut!' Donna yells.

Steve, Brandon, and Kelly all stare at the fight going on in front of them.

'Does anyone else feel like we shouldn't be watching this?' Steve says quietly.

'I have apologized for that a hundred times. There is nothing more that I can do. You have already punished me and now you are just torturing me,' David yells back.

'Torturing you? You humiliated me and yourself in front of all of our friends! Don't stand there and act as if I owe you something,' Donna says, standing her ground.

'Just tell me what I have to do, Donna, and I'll do it. I can't take this anymore,' David says, breaking down.

Donna stares at him and after a few seconds Kelly sees Donna's shoulders drop. She stands up slowly and takes a few steps toward her friend.

'Okay, I think the alcohol has done us some good and some bad. Can you guys continue you this later?' she says.

'No, Kel, we can't,' Donna says calmly. 'David, if you can't handle this friendship the way it is now, then you are right, we can't be friends,' she says.

Steve gets up and stands next to Kelly.

'Come on, Donna, you guys have to be able to find a way to work this out,' Steve says.

'Have you ever been cheated on by someone you loved, Steve, or were you the one doing the cheating?' Donna shoots at him.

'Don't start in on me, Donna, I didn't do anything to you,' Steve says.

'Then stay out of this,' she says firmly.

'Damn, I was just trying to help,' he says.

'Well, you are not helping, so why don't you sit down and pass out or something?' Donna says.

'And the tensions get higher,' Kelly says. 'Come on guys, this is taking a really bad turn.'

'Yeah, well it's about to get worse,' Donna says and focuses her eyes back on David.

_Dylan's House_

Brenda lies on her side with her arms wrapped around Dylan's body and watches him sleep. After making love again, he had finally drifted off. She takes in the feel of his arms around her and the curves of his face.

She untangles her arms from his body and turns to lie on her back. He eases his grip on her and rolls over. She carefully and slowly gets out of the bed and goes into the living room.

She sits on the couch, staring off into the darkness, and starts to think about her future. She pulls her knees up to her chest and sits very still for almost an hour.

'_I'm going to make it through this semester and then throw myself completely into the theatre. I'm going to try to keep the drama on the stage and not let it infiltrate my life. I'm going to try to be the best girlfriend anyone could ever have after what he did for me over the last few weeks. Whatever he wants, I'm going to give it to him.'_

She smiles to herself and walks back into the bedroom. She stops at the side of the bed and notices that Dylan hadn't moved the entire time she had been gone. She gets back into the bed and puts her head on his shoulder and her arm on his chest. He turns slightly in her direction and pulls her close.

_The Beach Apartment_

Kelly, Brandon, and Steve had managed to work their way onto the deck while Donna yelled at David.

'What do you think is going to happen with them?' Steve asks.

'I don't know, Steve. I've never seen Donna that mad before,' Kelly says.

'I didn't even know she could get that mad. I really thought that David had a chance, if only he would have given it some more time,' Brandon says.

'Yeah and stopped acting like a jerk,' Kelly says.

Steve and Brandon nod. 'How long do we have to stay out here? I'm kind of tired,' Steve says.

'Well, you are more than welcome to bust back in there, push David away from the front door and leave,' Kelly says with a smile.

Steve stares at her and says, 'Thanks, Kel.'

'Well, we've been out here for almost an hour, I think we go back in and just pretend that they're not there,' Brandon says.

'It's worth a shot. I don't want to be sleeping on the couch with them fighting right in front of me,' Steve says.

The three of them open the door slowly and walk back into the apartment. They hear Donna's voice speaking calmly to David.

'At this point, David, it doesn't matter what you say. The only thing that is going to make this easier is time. I'm sorry, but that's the bottom line. Brenda and I have discussed this at length and she said that as much as she tried to get over the fact that Dylan cheated on her with Kelly, the only thing that helped her cope was time. She's right about that and it just hasn't been long enough for us yet,' Donna says.

'Yeah, maybe she's right,' David says.

Brandon, Kelly, and Steve stop walking halfway down the hall and listen.

'Of course she's right. She's the only one of us who has actually been through this,' Donna says.

'Maybe we just need to branch out a little and see what it's like to not be together,' Donna says.

'You mean date other people to see if we really want to be with each other?' David asks her.

Donna nods her head slowly.

'I don't want to string you along, David, but I'm not ready for you and me again. I'm just not,' she says.

'Okay, fine, Donna, we'll try it your way,' David says sadly and gets up off of the couch.

He walks to the door and leaves as Kelly, Brandon, and Steve emerge from the hallway.

'Don't say anything, I don't want to talk about it,' Donna says and runs to her room.

Kelly looks around the room as she hears Donna's door slam shut.

'Oh my God,' she says slowly.

Brandon turns his head back to the living room and sees the couch pillows thrown all over the room, playing cards all over the floor and a few beer cans near the front door.

'Okay, so he either chugged these while they were fighting or she threw them at him,' Brandon says.

'Okay, it's time for this night to end. Steve, are you going to stay? I can't drive you back to campus,' Kelly says.

'I think I'll sleep here, if that's alright with you,' he says and curls up on the couch.

'I'll clean this up tomorrow, let's go to bed,' Kelly says to Brandon. He nods at her and takes her hand.

Kelly lies in her bed staring at the ceiling. She turns her head slightly and smiles at Brandon sleeping peacefully next to her.

She tries to work out in her head how the night started out great with all of her friends hanging out in her living room and ended up so horribly bad.

'Brandon?' she says softly. She looks over at him again and sees that he doesn't move at all when she says his name.

She shakes him a little and says his name again a little louder.

'Huh?' he mutters.

'I can't sleep. I'm worried about Donna,' Kelly says.

'Okay,' Brandon says with his eyes still closed.

'Brandon!' Kelly says, but realizes that there is no hope of having a conversation with him right now.

Kelly gets out of bed and goes into the living room. She picks up the phone, dials a number, and waits for someone to answer.

'Do you have any idea what time it is?' a sleepy, angry voice on the other end of the phone says.

'Dylan, put Brenda on,' Kelly says firmly.

Dylan lowers the phone from his ear and shakes Brenda.

'Who is it?' Brenda asks, turning around to face him.

'It's Kelly, and this better be good,' Dylan says still pissed off, while he hands her the phone.

Brenda takes the phone from Dylan and sits up in the bed.

'Kelly, what's wrong?' she says clearly into the phone.

'Bren, I really need to talk to someone. I'm sorry to wake you guys up, but I can't sleep and I need to vent,' she says.

Brenda gets out of bed and walks into Dylan's living room with the phone. She sits on the couch and pulls a blanket over her legs.

'Okay, Kel, no problem, what's the matter?' Brenda asks her.

Kelly replays the entire night after they arrived at the apartment after Brenda's show. She relays to Brenda just how strong Donna was and how she stood right up to David and yelled right in his face.

'Wow, I can't believe she did that,' Brenda says.

'Yeah, well, I think it was a combination of the alcohol and Donna being fed up with the fact that David was barely speaking to her,' Kelly says.

'What happened after that?' Brenda says.

'Well, we're not really sure. Brandon, Steve, and I walked out back to let them have it out. When we came back in about an hour later, they had calmed down and were talking normally to each other,' Kelly says.

'Well, that's a good sign,' Brenda says.

'That's what I thought until David left, Donna ran back to her room and we walked into the living room. The place was a complete mess. The couch cushions were all of the room, there were crushed beer cans thrown everywhere, the playing cards that we were using were all over the floor. It was like walking into the aftermath of a tornado,' Kelly tells her.

'That is not good. Donna doesn't get violent,' Brenda says.

'That's what I'm worried about. She must have been really angry. We heard the end of their conversation as we were coming back into the house and it sounds like they both agreed to see other people to figure out whether or not they really wanted to be together,' Kelly says.

'Oh my,' Brenda says, 'this is either going to turn out really good or really, really bad.'

'My thoughts exactly, Bren. I'm really worried about her. I think she's going to throw herself headfirst into a relationship with Jason,' Kelly says.

'She's going to regret that when she realizes that she's just on the rebound,' Brenda says. 'Well, we just need to keep a close eye on her. Do you think we should warn Jason?'

'I don't know, Bren. He's kind of aware of the situation with Donna and David already, maybe he's okay with being the rebound guy,' Kelly says.

'We'll find out, right? I'm sorry you had a bad night,' Brenda tells her.

'Thanks for talking to me, Bren. I feel much better now. I think I'm actually tired enough to get to sleep,' she says.

'Good, I'm glad. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?' Brenda says.

'Okay, goodnight,' Kelly says and hangs up the phone.

Brenda hangs up and stares down at the phone for a few seconds. _'Poor Donna. She must feel awful right now.'_

Brenda gets up and goes back to bed. She lies down and Dylan automatically rolls over and drapes his arm across her stomach and pulls her closer.

Brenda smiles to herself as he nuzzles his head into her neck and kisses her.

'Everything alright?' he whispers.

'For the moment,' she answers and closes her eyes.


	34. Chapter 34

_**The Time of Our Lives**__** – Chapter 34**_

Dylan wakes up to the aroma of food being cooked in his kitchen. He rolls over and sees that Brenda is not in bed. He gets up slowly and rubs his eyes.

He walks out of the bedroom in his boxer shorts and pokes his head into the kitchen.

'Bren? What going on?' he says sleepily. He opens his eyes enough to see his mother standing in the kitchen cooking bacon.

'Good afternoon,' she says.

Dylan looks around the room confused for a few seconds. 'Where's Brenda?' he asks her.

'Why don't you put some clothes on, Dylan, she's in the living room,' Iris says.

Dylan looks down at himself and turns quickly to pull on a pair of pants. He walks out into the living room to see Brenda reading a pamphlet.

'Hey, what are you reading?' he asks her.

She looks up and smiles at him. 'Your mother brought over this information about Actor's Equity membership.'

'What's that?' he asks her.

'It's the union for stage actors. They provide things like benefits, retirement plans, and invitations to Equity-only auditions. If you want to be a stage actor and are really serious about it, you better have an Equity card,' Brenda tells him with a smile.

'Oh,' Dylan says, nodding his head.

'Breakfast is served, or should I say lunch?' Iris calls from the dining room.

Brenda smiles again and gets up from the couch. She holds her hand out to him and helps him up.

_The Beach Apartment_

Brandon rolls out of Kelly's bed and walks into the kitchen. He pours himself a cup of coffee and looks around the room for her. She walks out from the hallway and joins him in the kitchen.

He puts his arm around her and kisses her passionately. 'Good morning,' he says.

Kelly smiles at him and kisses him again. 'Good afternoon.'

'Where's Steve?' Brandon asks.

'He left early this morning. I think he walked back to campus,' Kelly says.

'So, should we clean this mess up?' Brandon asks her.

'No, not yet, I want Donna to see it. I don't think she even realized what she did last night,' Kelly says.

Kelly walks back and knocks on Donna's door. 'Donna, we're going for food, come on,' Kelly says.

'I'll be right there,' Donna shouts back.

Kelly walks back into the kitchen and puts her arm around Brandon. He pulls her close and kisses the top of her head.

'So, what do you want to do on this gorgeous Saturday afternoon?' Brandon says.

'Anything you want,' she says with a smile.

Donna walks out from her bedroom and stares at the mess in the living room.

'Did Steve get too rowdy again? What happened in here?' she asks Kelly.

Kelly and Brandon both turn their heads slowly to look at her.

'I was going to ask you the same question,' Kelly replies.

'What do you mean?' Donna asks with confusion.

'Donna, do you remember fighting with David last night?'

'Yes, I remember,' she says.

'Well, we went outside for about an hour waiting for you guys to be finished and when we came back in after David left, the living room was a mess,' Kelly says.

Donna stares at the cards and the beer cans for a minute or two trying to remember. She suddenly gasps and puts her hand up to her mouth.

'Oh my God,' she says. She looks back over to Kelly and Brandon. 'I thought that was a dream.'

'Yeah, well, it wasn't. What do you remember?' Kelly asks her.

Donna walks over to the couch and puts the cushions back where they belong. She sits down with her hands on her lap and stares at the floor.

_Flashback_

'_Donna, come on, it was a one time thing! I didn't even really like her! You can't hold this over my head forever!' David yells._

_Donna begins to fume as she feels the warmth of her anger penetrate her cheeks. She starts pacing the floor of the living room trying to calm herself down and be rational._

'_Seriously, Donna, when you boil it all down it wasn't just my fault,' he yells at her._

_Donna stops in her tracks and clenches her fists at her side. She had never been this angry before in her entire life. She grabs what is closest to her and throws it as hard as she can at him. David ducks the beer can flying at his head and then another one quickly after._

_Donna picks up anything she can get her hands on and continues to assault David with the couch pillows, beer cans, cards, and anything else she can grab._

_When she runs out of things to throw, she folds her arms across her chest and stares David down._

_He stands there with a scared look on his face. He has never seen Donna angry enough to resort to becoming physical._

'_David, get out,' she says softly with her eyes closed._

'_Donna, please I didn't mean it. I was angry and I've definitely drank too much. Please don't throw me out like this,' he pleads._

Present Day

'He said that it wasn't just his fault! I can't believe it!' Kelly says.

'Now I remember throwing things at him. I guess I blocked it out or something,' Donna says, nodding her head.

Kelly walks over and sits next to her on the couch. She puts her arm around Donna's shoulders as Donna leans into her.

'It's going to be alright, honey. Let's go get some food and we'll worry about this mess later, okay?' Kelly says.

Donna nods her head and gets up off of the couch.

_Dylan's House_

'So, Bren, what's the plan for this afternoon?' Dylan asks her after they had finished eating.

'Well, I think I'm just going to relax until call. I do have to go home and get a shower and change my clothes though,' Brenda says looking down at the clothes she was wearing since yesterday.

'Brenda, I am so glad I got to see you perform. I hope you get some good use out of that information that I got for you. You are going to be such a star!' Iris says with a smile on her face. 'I probably won't see you before I leave, so have a great show tonight.'

Brenda and Iris both get up from the table and hug each other.

'Thank you so much for coming and for the information,' Brenda says. 'Have a very safe trip back, okay?'

'I'm sure it'll be a breeze after the retreat ends tomorrow,' Iris says. She stands in front of Dylan, who finally gets up and hugs his mother.

Iris grabs her bags and walks down to the waiting taxi.

'So, you're really going to go home?' Dylan says with a sad face as he wraps his arms around Brenda's waist and kisses her neck.

'Oh, Dylan, not the sad face,' Brenda pleads.

Dylan lets a wicked smile run across his face as he picks her up and starts to kiss her again.

'That is so unfair,' Brenda says with a smile.

'Oh really? Well, I think it's unfair that you have this many articles of clothing still on,' Dylan says and pulls her toward the bedroom.

_The Peach Pit_

Kelly, Brandon, and Donna finish their lunch and sit at the Pit talking to each other.

'So, Donna, what are you going to do now with the whole David/Jason situation?' Kelly asks her.

'Well, if David agrees that the best way to see if we really want to be with each other is to date other people, then so be it,' Donna says.

'Do you think you might let Jason in on that little secret?' Brandon asks her.

'Maybe,' Donna says, 'I'm still a little unsure of him, but it might be worth checking out. I'd kind of like to talk to Brenda about all of this first though, just to get her opinion.'

Kelly and Brandon nod their heads at Donna.

'Why don't you give her a call, I'm sure she's still at Dylan's house,' Brandon says.

Donna looks at Brandon and then over to the phone in the Peach Pit. She smiles back on Brandon and Kelly, gets up and goes to the phone.

'Yeah?' Donna hears Dylan's voice on the other end.

'Hi Dylan, is Brenda still there?' she asks him.

She hears Dylan sigh loudly on the other end of the phone. As he hands the phone to Brenda, Donna hears him say, 'It's for you again.'

'Hello?' Brenda says.

'Bren, it's Donna,' Donna says.

'Hey, Donna, what's going on?'

'I need to talk to you. A bunch of things happened last night that have totally changed my situation with David and I need someone to talk to about it,' Donna says.

'Oh, okay, sure. Do you want me to meet you somewhere or do you want to go over to my house?' Brenda asks her.

'Um, can we go to your house? I really don't want to be in my apartment right now,' Donna says.

'Sure, no problem, just give me like thirty minutes, okay?' Brenda asks her.

'Okay, see you soon!' Donna says and hangs up the phone.

Brenda hands the phone back to Dylan to hang up and notices that he does not stop glaring at her as he puts the phone back on the cradle.

'Dylan, stop it right now. The only reason they are calling here is because they know that this is where I am,' Brenda says.

'I know, but can't they just give it a rest?' Dylan whines.

'Come on, Donna needs me. I'm sure she wants to tell me all about her big fight with David,' Brenda says.

'But you already know about her big fight with David, since Kelly called at the ass-crack of dawn this morning to tell you all about it,' Dylan tells her.

'You are so cute,' Brenda says with a smile. She leans over and kisses Dylan slowly. She rolls out of the bed and begins to put her clothes back on.

'Now, I have to go home and take a shower and get ready for Donna to come over, so let's go,' Brenda says as she walks into the kitchen.

Dylan sighs again, rolls over onto his back and puts his arm over his eyes. He hears Brenda fussing around in the kitchen and tries to curb his frustration.

'Come on, get some clothes on so you can take me home,' Brenda says loudly as she walks past the bedroom and into the living room to collect her things.

Dylan finally gets out of the bed and throws some clothes on. He walks out into the living room to meet her and watches as she moves around the room putting her things in a bag.

She walks over and stands in front of him. She looks up into his big brown eyes and smiles.

'Are you done being a little baby?' she asks him.

'Yes,' he says with a pout.

She smiles wider and grabs his hand. They leave the house together and get into Dylan's car.

_The Beach Apartment_

Kelly and Brandon walk into the apartment after leaving the Peach Pit.

'So, what do you want to do? Walk on the beach? Bike ride? Swimming? Volleyball?' Brandon asks her.

'I've got a better idea,' Kelly says. She wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him close.

'Oh, hey, now,' Brandon says with a smile.

'Donna is over at your house talking with Brenda so I'm pretty sure she's not coming back any time soon,' Kelly says with a smile.

Brandon starts to kiss her and pulls her as close as he can. He walks her backward to the couch and lays her down.

'Brandon,' she says and looks up at him. She caresses his face with her hand and takes in the intense stare of his bright blue eyes.

'I love you,' she whispers.

'I love you too,' he says and drops down to kiss her.

_Casa Walsh_

Donna sits on Brenda's bed waiting for her to get out of the shower. Brenda walks into her room in a pair of shorts and a tank top, drying her hair with a towel.

'Okay, Donna, sorry about that, now tell me what happened,' Brenda says, sitting on the bed next to her friend.

Donna tells Brenda everything she remembers about the fight she had with David the night before.

'I don't know, Bren, I almost can't believe that I was the one who suggested that we see other people,' Donna says.

'Donna, I know that you love David, and you know that he loves you, but it's time to figure out whether or not he really is the right person for you. I'm not suggesting that you rush into a relationship with anybody right away, but it's time to stop moping about David and get out there,' Brenda says.

Donna looks up at Brenda and nods her head slightly.

'I know, Bren. I guess I wouldn't have said it if I didn't believe it a little bit, right?' Donna asks her.

'Exactly, I know this is hard for you, but the more you sit around and wait for something to happen, the more is just going to pass you by,' Brenda says.

Donna smiles at her and grabs her hand. 'I know you're right,' she says with a sigh. 'I guess it's just a little harder to wrap my head around right now.'

'Well, it just happened yesterday. Realizations like this aren't easy to deal with and it's just going to take some time to work itself out. Maybe you need another break or something, just like London?' Brenda asks her with a smile.

'Yeah, maybe that would help, although I did find a whole new set of friends in London,' Donna says.

'Maybe just hanging out with them without the old gang around would be enough,' Brenda says with a wink.

'Thanks, Bren, I think I might try that,' she says.

'Good for you Donna,' Brenda says.

'When do you have to leave for the theatre?' Donna asks her.

Brenda looks over at the clock and says, 'About an hour or so. I like to get there earlier than everybody else and with this character, I need as much time as possible to get ready.'

'I can just imagine. As much as I loved seeing you up on stage last year and again in London, last night was by far my favorite,' Donna says.

'Thanks, Donna,' Brenda says.

'Well, I better let you get ready. I'll see you soon, okay?' Donna says and hugs her friend.

Brenda sits in front of the mirror and brushes her hair. She thinks back to when she was in London with Donna and the look on her face that first night that she had spent alone out with Brenda's actor friends.

Brenda turns when she hears a knock at the door and sees her mother come in to her room.

'Brenda, it's so nice to actually see you. You're never here anymore,' Cindy tells her daughter.

'I know, Mom, I've been really busy lately, but that should calm down now that the performances have started. At least I won't have rehearsal every night anymore,' Brenda says.

'That's good, honey, because I was a little worried about you. You looked so stressed out all of the time,' Cindy says.

'Yeah, well, it's better now. I have three weeks of performances left, next week Kelly, Donna, and I are doing a little skit for the sorority talent show, and then finals start,' Brenda says.

'How are you and Dylan doing? I have to say that I'm glad there is not as much drama this time as there was the last time you guys got together,' Cindy says.

Brenda laughs out loud at her mother's comment. 'I told you, Mom, we've grown up since then. We're doing just fine this time and I couldn't be happier.'

Cindy gets up from the bed and kisses her daughter on the top of her head.

'I'm glad to hear that. Listen, I packed you a bag of vegetables to take with you to the theatre. I know you don't like to eat before performances, but maybe you want a snack or something to hold you over,' Cindy says.

'Thanks, Mom,' Brenda says with a smile and watches her mother walk out of her room.

Brenda finishes with her hair and gets dressed to go down to the theatre. She grabs her bag and starts to walk down the steps when she hears voices in the foyer. She comes down the stairs a little quicker and sees Dylan in the foyer talking with her father.

'Brenda, your chariot awaits,' Dylan says to her.

Brenda stares at him confused and looks between him and her father. Dylan is dressed to the nines in a great looking suit.

Jim just smiles at her, puts his arm on her shoulder and kisses her forehead.

'Break a leg, sweetheart,' he says.

'Dylan, what's going on?' she asks him.

'Nothing, I just thought I'd come over early and give you a lift to the theatre,' he says.

Brenda didn't even think to ask him whether or not he was coming to the show that evening. She figured that he would come opening night and then maybe closing night.

'Are you coming to the show tonight?' she asks him, still confused.

'Of course,' he says as he puts his arm around her waist and shuffles her out of the door to his car.

She gets into the car and he pulls it out of the driveway.

'Bren, I plan on coming to every show,' he informs her.

'Every show, Dylan? Don't you think it'll get boring after a while? I don't expect you to come to every show,' she tells him.

'I don't think I will ever get bored of seeing you on stage,' he says confidently.

Brenda smiles at him. 'I have to say, I'm kind of shocked,' she says.

'Well, that's what I'm here for, to keep you on your toes,' he says with a wicked smile.

Dylan drives over to the theatre and parks the car. She turns to look at him without making any moves to get out.

He turns to her and smiles brightly.

'What's gotten into you?' Brenda asks with a smile on her face.

'Bren, with you talking about dropping out of school to start your acting career, I just want to make sure that you know that I'm here for you. I don't want you to ever think that I don't support you or love that you're going out there to pursue a dream. I want to be around when people ask how you got your start. I want to say that I was there for every single one of those performances and watched you rise to the top all on your own,' he says sincerely.

Brenda wipes the tears from her eyes and tries to smile for him. 'You are so sweet,' she manages to get out.

He leans over and kisses her face. She lifts her head to meet his lips and kisses him passionately.

He puts his hand on her cheek and pulls back from kissing her.

'Break a leg, baby, I'll be there when you're done,' he says and kisses her again.

Brenda enjoys the soft touch of Dylan's lips to her own. She slowly gets out of the car and walks into the theatre, looking back in his direction every few feet.

She enters the dressing room and sits down at the mirror to start putting on her stage makeup. She wipes the tears from her eyes several times while trying to calm herself down enough to be able to finish.

'Please tell me those are tears of joy?' Chris asks as he sits down next to her.

Brenda smiles and turns her head toward him. 'Of course they are, don't you worry,' she says to him.

'Good, because I have no idea how we are going to top last night,' he says with a smile.


	35. Chapter 35

_Authors Note: Here is the next chapter. I want to apologize to the readers of this story and my other stories for taking so much time to post this. Life got in the way a little bit and I had to stop writing for a while, but things are much better now and I should be posting other chapters soon. They may come more slowly this time around, but I promise you they will come. I will also be updating 'A Difficult Kind' soon too. Thanks for reading and please be patient!_

_**The Time of Our Lives – Chapter 35**_

Dylan stands in front of the theatre waiting for Brenda to come out. He wrings his hands and paces back and forth trying to calm his nerves.

He looks up and sees her walking toward him with Chris. They have serious looks on their faces and keep looking behind them to see if anyone can hear what they are saying. They approach Dylan and he sees Brenda give Chris a weak smile.

'See you tomorrow for the matinee,' Chris says as he nods at Dylan and walks to his car.

Brenda lifts her face and smiles up at Dylan.

'What's going on?' he asks her right away.

'I'll explain it to you in the car,' she says and begins to walk. He grabs her arm and pulls her into a hug.

'You were incredible, yet again,' he whispers in her ear.

Brenda smiles brightly into his shoulder and hugs him back. They walk to the car and get in. Dylan starts to drive away from the theatre and looks over at her.

'Where to?' he asks her.

'Let's just go back to my house. I'm hungry and Mom was making lasagna when I left,' Brenda says to him with a smile.

He smiles back at her and speeds the car up.

'So, are you going to tell me?' he asks.

Brenda sighs and looks over at him. 'I don't know if you noticed but Kate and Joe jumped a section in the second Act and Chris and I had to spend a whole lot of time and energy double backing to figure out what important parts of the show were left out,' Brenda starts.

Dylan looks back at her for a second and slowly nods his head. 'Yeah, I thought that was a little weird there in the middle. It didn't flow quite like it was supposed to,' Dylan says.

'It was that obvious, huh?'

'Well, to me it was, since I've seen the show a bunch of times. You guys covered it up really well though. I'm not sure many other people noticed,' Dylan tells her.

'Oh, good, because I was kind of afraid that the entire thing lost momentum and that the ending would be kind of lame,' Brenda says.

'No way, the ending was just as good as it was last night. I don't think you could mess that up even if that's the only part you did,' Dylan assures her.

_The Campus Café – one week later_

'Okay, so do you guys think we're ready?' Donna asks Kelly and Brenda.

'I think everyone is going to be blown away at the talent show,' Kelly says with a smile.

'I agree, no one can top the hilarity that will ensue when we get up there on that stage,' Brenda says.

The girls laugh together for a few minutes and talk about how much they are going to enjoy winning the talent show.

'So, when do they actually announce the winners?' Brenda asks.

'At the end of the night and I have the perfect idea of what to do if we win,' Donna says.

'What's that Donna?' Kelly asks her.

'Well, since Brenda will have to leave and may not be there to accept the award, I'm thinking of bringing,' Donna starts to say and then stops.

'Ladies, we just wanted to say good luck tonight at the show and may the best group win.'

Kelly and Brenda turn their heads to see a rival sorority group standing a few feet from the table.

Brenda flashes a devious smile at them. 'Yes, break a leg,' she says dryly with a straight face. She slowly turns her head back toward Donna and lets another smile creep across her face.

Kelly lets out a little giggle as the girls turn and walk away from them.

'Damn, Brenda, that was cold,' Kelly says.

'What's a little friendly competition? Besides, we are going to kick their asses. Do you know what their doing for the talent show?' she asks them.

Donna and Kelly both shake their heads.

'They are going to lip sync and dance to 'Locomotion'. I mean, come on, how 5th grade is that?' Brenda says.

'Wow, I think we've seen someone turn a tide for the better,' Kelly says.

'What do you mean?' Brenda asks her.

'This is the Brenda we have been waiting for all this time. I missed you, welcome back,' Kelly says and pats Brenda on the shoulder.

Brenda and Donna start to laugh as Brenda gets up slightly from her seat and takes a little bow.

'Well, it's good to be back,' she says.

Steve, Brandon, and Dylan start to walk toward the girls as they see the other sorority girls turn on their heels and book it out of the café.

'What did you do to those girls? They sure left in a hurry,' Steve asks them.

'Oh, nothing you need to worry about Steve,' Kelly says and smiles at Brenda. The girls erupt into laughter again as the guys sit with them and stare in confusion.

'So, you guys are coming to the talent show right?' Donna looks around the table at them.

'I wouldn't miss this for the world,' Steve says proudly.

'Of course you wouldn't, since the KEG house is running security and taking tickets for us,' Kelly says.

'Yeah, well, even if that weren't true, I still wouldn't miss it. I love watching sorority girls make fools out of themselves,' Steve says, reminiscing.

'Why is that Steve?' Brandon asks.

'Because at the end of the night there are bound to be some of them that screw up so bad that they are completely embarrassed and have slightly lowered self esteems. They're going to need some comfort,' Steve says with a wicked smile.

'Oh, God, Steve, that's horrible,' Donna says.

'Well, I have to get to class, see you guys later,' Kelly says with a smile.

'I'll walk with you,' Brandon says as they get up and leave the table.

Dylan puts his arm around Brenda's shoulders and kisses her on the cheek.

'Hey, a call came to the house for you before I left to come here,' he says.

Brenda looks at him a little confused. 'Who would be calling me at your house? All of our friends were here,' she says.

'Well, Mom must have given someone at the equity place my phone number for you, because they called,' he says.

'Really? I know that I put my house number down on the application. What did they say?' Brenda asks with excitement.

'Well, they want you to come down and talk to them tomorrow morning,' Dylan says and pulls out a piece of paper from his pocket that he wrote the name and number down on.

Brenda takes the paper and stares at it for a few seconds and then looks back up at Dylan.

'This is amazing. I'm going to call them right now,' she says and gets up quickly. She starts to walk toward the phone, but turns back around and grabs Dylan's face. She kisses him passionately and then turns back toward the phone.

He smiles slightly as he watches her walk away.

'Well, we've got to get going. We have a lot to get together before the show,' Donna says getting up from the table.

Donna stands and turns her head to where Brenda is talking on the phone.

'Dylan, tell Brenda we'll see her in a little bit okay?' Donna asks him.

Dylan nods his head as the girls walk off with Steve following.

Brenda hangs up the phone and smiles to herself. She glances over to the table where Dylan is sitting waiting for her. She starts to walk back over to him and ends up almost skipping all the way there. Dylan turns his head at the last second and sees her moving quickly toward him.

'So, what did they say?' he asks her, getting up from his seat.

Brenda wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him as close as she can. She squeezes her arms together and smiles into his shoulder.

'Whoa, that good?' he asks as he holds onto her tightly.

She lifts her head from his shoulder and glances up into his eyes. She lets a tear fall from her eye and roll down her cheek.

'Oh, baby, what is it?' Dylan says and drops his head down to her level.

Brenda gulps and takes a deep breath. 'Not only do they want me to come in, but he said that they have so few actors that are available right now, that the jobs are just lined up,' she says slowly.

'Dylan, this is my chance. This is my dream,' she says and buries her head into his shoulder.

Dylan wraps his arms around her again and rubs her back. He kisses the top of her head.

'I know, baby, I know,' he says with a far away look in his eye.

_Backstage at the Talent Show_

'Okay, guys I'm here. Sorry I'm late, I couldn't find my hat,' Brenda says to Donna and Kelly.

'Brenda, you look amazing!' Donna says.

'Girls,' Brenda says as she puts an arm around Kelly and the other around Donna, 'we are going to kill out there. Let's go and show these bitches how it's done.'

Brenda starts to walk toward the stage. Donna and Kelly exchange looks as they watch Brenda confidently walk in front of them.

The girls perform their routine flawlessly and run off of the stage to boundless applause.

'That was amazing!' Donna says, out of breath.

Brenda smiles broadly and then looks around for a clock.

'Oh my God, I have to go. Hopefully I'll be back in time for them to annouce us as the winners!' she says quickly and starts removing her costume. She kisses Donna and Kelly on the cheeks, wishes them good luck, and runs out to the car.

Brenda runs into the theatre and dresses quickly.

'Brenda, where have you been? I thought maybe you bailed on us,' Chris tells her with a smile.

'Bail on you? Never!' Brenda says.

They finish the show and Brenda gets back into the car and drives to her house. She walks in the door and sees her parents in the living room watching late night television.

'Brenda? What are you doing here? I thought you were going back to campus to see who won the talent show,' her mother says.

Brenda finishes her yawn and nods her head. 'I am, I just wanted to drop some things off,' she says as she slowly makes her way up the stairs to her room.

_The Talent Show_

The group stands in the audience waiting for the announcement of the winner of the talent show. Kelly looks around at her friends and starts to frown.

'Brandon, what time is it?' she asks him.

Brandon looks down at his watch and then back up at her. 'Twelve-thirty,' he says.

'Where's Brenda? The show was over a while ago. She was supposed to come back here and share in our win.'

'I don't know where she is, maybe the show ran over or something. Don't worry, she'll be here,' Brandon assures Kelly.

'Thank you all so much for coming to this event. We had a great turnout and raised a ton of money. Now, without further ado, I am pleased to announce the winners of the talent show are Donna Martin, Kelly Taylor, and Brenda Walsh!'

The crowd begins to cheer and applaud as Kelly and Donna make their way up to the stage. They accept the award from the president of the sorority and take a bow to thundering audience.

As they leave the stage Kelly turns to Donna. 'I can't believe we won! This is the best feeling in the world!'

'Yeah,' Donna says solemnly, 'but where's Brenda? I thought she would be here by now.'

'Maybe she got tied up or something,' Kelly says.

'Congratulations ladies,' Steve says as he puts his arms around them.

'You guys were great. I'm glad you won,' Brandon tells them.

'I'm really worried about Brenda though, I wonder what happened to her,' Donna says.

Brandon frowns a little and looks around. 'Yeah, that is strange. Let me call over to Dylan's and see if she went there instead,' he says.

He walks into the café building and dials Dylan's number.

'Yeah,' he hears Dylan say.

'Hey Dylan, it's Brandon. Is Brenda over there with you?' Brandon asks him.

'No, she was going back down to campus after the show ended,' Dylan tells him.

'Well, she never made it down here. The girls just won the talent show and she's not around. I was hoping maybe she was with you.'

'I haven't heard from her. Where could she be?' Dylan asks him.

'I don't know. I'm going to drive around and see if I can find her. I'm really worried now,' Brandon says.

'Listen I'll go down to the theatre and see if they stayed there or something and then I'll head over to your house,' Dylan says quickly.

'Okay, I'll meet up with you there.'

Dylan slams the phone down and grabs his coat. He runs out to the car and speeds his way over to the theatre to find it dark and empty. His heart starts to pound in his chest as he turns the car around and heads toward Brenda's house.

Brandon, Kelly, and Donna get in the car and drive quickly over to Casa Walsh. As soon as they pull up the driveway, they hear tires screeching and see Dylan's car whip around the corner and up the drive.

'The theatre is empty,' Dylan says quickly.

'I'm sure she's fine,' Brandon says calmly, but almost finds himself running into his own house. Brandon flies up the stairs followed by his friends and stops short in front of Brenda's room. The door is open and she is sitting at her mirror with one hand on a tube of lipstick and the other hand holding her head up.

Brandon lets out a deep breath and takes a few steps into her room.

'She's asleep,' Brandon says quietly. Dylan puts his hand to his chest to try to slow his heartbeat and walks into her room and sits on her bed.

Brandon carefully puts a hand on her shoulder and gently shakes her awake.

'Bren? Wake up, Bren,' he says.

'Mmmmmm,' he hears Brenda mumble.

'Wake up,' he says again.

Brenda slowly opens her eyes and takes a minute to figure out who is kneeling in front of her.

'Brandon?' she says sleepily.

'Hey, Bren, you fell asleep at your mirror,' he says.

Brenda turns her head and puts down the lipstick in her hand. She lifts her head a little and sees a gigantic red mark on her cheek where her hand had been.

'Oh my God, how long have I been asleep? What time is it? Did I miss the show?' Brenda starts ranting.

'Whoa, whoa, calm down. You performed with Kelly and Donna at the talent show and then you went to the theatre. You must have come back here after the show and fell asleep,' Brandon explains.

Brenda looks past Brandon and sees Kelly, Donna, and Dylan behind him.

'I'm so sorry. I'm so very sorry,' she says to them. 'What happened?'

Donna couldn't help but let a huge smile creep across her face. 'We won, Bren! We won!' she says with excitement.

Brenda's face lights up and she stands up quickly and embraces Kelly and Donna.

'That is great!' she says.

'Well, we're going to leave you to get back to sleep, you must be exhausted to have fallen asleep while putting your makeup on,' Kelly says. She gives Brenda another hug and follows Donna and Brandon down the steps.

Brenda turns toward Dylan and slowly moves to sit next to him.

Dylan grabs her hand and looks into her eyes. 'You really scared me there for a second,' he says quietly.

Brenda squeezes his hand and lifts her face to kiss him. 'I'm sorry. I guess I'm a little more tired than I thought,' she says.

Dylan nods his head. 'Go back to sleep, baby. I'll see you tomorrow,' he says and kisses her again.

Brenda nods her head back and gets up to change her clothes.

Dylan watches her grab her pajamas and head into the bathroom still half asleep. He shakes his head and closes her door.

_Dylan's House – the last night of Brenda's show_

Dylan stands in front of the mirror straightening his tie. He stops and stares into his own face and after a few seconds has to look away. He backs up and sits on his bed, folds his hands in his lap, and stares down at the floor.

'_I am so glad that this is her last show. Ever since the night of the talent show we haven't really been connecting very well. She's been going on auditions for Equity jobs and spending most nights either memorizing lines or studying.'_

Dylan sighs to himself and starts to shake his head as tiny feelings of resentment begin to creep back into his brain.

'No, no, no, no,' he says quietly to himself. 'You will not do this again.'

He stands straight up and quickly walks into the living room to grab his coat. He looks into the mirror one last time before darting out of the door and heading down to the theatre.

He gets out of the car and walks toward the entrance where he sees Brandon, Donna, Jason, Steve, and Kelly standing. Dylan starts to smile a little when she sees Donna grab Jason's hand and lead him into the theatre.

'Hey D,' Brandon says, 'you look dapper tonight.'

Dylan smiles broadly and shows off his suit. 'Well, tonight is the last night of the show and cause for some definite celebration,' he says.

'Nice touch,' Steve says, 'good luck, man.'

Brandon turns and punches Steve in the shoulder. 'Dude, that's my sister we're talking about.'

Steve smiles and raises his eyebrows a few times before laughing out loud. 'So, Kel, what's going on with Donna?'

Kelly rolls her eyes and puts her hands together. 'Donna has decided that she's going to try to enjoy herself with Jason for a little while,' she says slowly and carefully.

'When and how did that happen? I thought she was still hung up on David a little?' Brandon asks.

'Well,' Kelly begins.

_Flashback – The Beach Apartment_

_Donna walks into the living room from her bedroom and stands in front of Kelly with her hands on her hips._

_Kelly looks up from the book she is ready for class and widens her eyes a little._

'_What's up Don?' she says, skeptically._

'_Kel, when we got back from the talent show last night, I was so tired that I ended up falling asleep with my clothes on. I had a dream and I think it's time that I made that a reality for a little while,' Donna begins._

_Kelly sits up straighter on the couch and closes her book._

'_I dreamt that we were on the stage accepting our award and when I looked out into the audience I saw everyone cheering and clapping for us. Mixed in with the rest of our friends was Jason. He was jumping up and down and screaming for us. I locked eyes with him and he winked at me. I started to scan the crowd and in the back of the room I saw David leaning against a post with his arms folded across his chest. He was just staring at us. He wasn't clapping or excited in any way that we had won the competition. It was like he was made of stone or something,' Donna says._

'_Hmm, that interesting,' Kelly says._

'_Well, I woke up suddenly and sat up in my bed. It really is unfair of me to string them along in any way. I do love David, but I don't want to be a stone. I'm going to give Jason a shot at making me happy,' Donna says definitively._

_Kelly starts to nod her head. 'Donna, I am here for you with whatever decision you make. Every time you and Jason are together, you have a smile on your face. I say, go for it,' Kelly assures her._

_Donna nods her head once and smiles._

Present Time

'Wow, does anyone know if David knows about this?' Steve asks.

'He knows,' Kelly tells them. 'Donna called him and told him what her decision was right away. I guess she couldn't wait any longer.'

'I guess that's why he's been absent for most of this week. I haven't seen him anywhere. Are you sure he's alright?' Brandon asks.

Kelly nods her head. 'I've been checking in on him. He's depressed and a little pissed off, but he's trying to deal with it.'

'How are you and Bren doing, Dylan? We haven't seen much of her this week either?' Kelly asks him.

Dylan watches a few people walk into the theatre and clears his throat.

'Time to go,' he says, avoiding the question as he makes his way through the doors.

Kelly, Brandon, and Steve all exchange looks as they slowly follow him in.


	36. Chapter 36

_**The Time of Our Lives**__** – Chapter 36**_

_The Roundhouse Theatre_

Brenda runs onto the stage to take her final bow to thundering applause and a standing ovation. She bows alone and then with the cast as the curtain comes down.

'We did it! This was the best show we've done the entire time,' Chris says and hugs her tightly. The curtain begins to rise again and they quickly grab each other's hands for another bow.

The director comes out from backstage and bows. He leads the cast off of the stage and pulls them into a group hug.

'This has been the best experience I've had with a cast,' he says yelling over the applause. 'You have all made my dream come true.'

They hug each other for a few minutes before being joined by the crew.

Dylan gets up from his seat with a huge smile on his face. He walks down toward the stage followed by Brandon, Kelly, Donna, Jason, and Steve.

They watch the cast members shake hands and hug the people around them. Dylan watches Brenda's face as she meets and greets. He catches her eye and sees the smile on her face broaden. She slowly weaves through the crowd to join her friends.

Dylan helps her off of the stage and puts his arm around her shoulder.

'Brenda, that was better than opening night. You guys were incredible tonight,' Kelly says.

Jason steps forward and pulls Brenda into his arms. 'You really have done it this time, girl,' he says into her ear.

'Every time I see you perform you get better and better,' he tells her. Dylan sees Brenda's face light up even more than it was before.

'Thank you, Jason. Thank you everyone for coming to the last show,' she says.

Dylan kisses the top of her head and pulls her closer.

'You are all invited to the cast party if you want to come and celebrate with us,' Brenda says looking around the group.

'I'm still recovering from the last cast party you invited us to,' Steve says with a laugh.

'Oh,' Kelly says and puts her hand to her head, 'yeah, that hangover was not fun at all.'

'Well, that's what you get for wanting to become caps champion of the world,' Brenda says with a laugh.

'The party is right here in the theatre, so if you guys are up for it, it'll probably start in about an hour and a half. We have to tear down the set and get the costumes back where they belong,' Brenda tells them as the crowd begins to thin out.

'I'm totally up for celebrating the end of this. Hopefully now you'll be able to get some sleep,' Brandon says and hugs her.

'Yeah, right after finals,' Brenda laughs.

'Oh, don't remind me,' Donna says.

'Why don't we go and get something to eat and hang out until the party starts?' Steve asks them.

'Sounds like a plan, Peach Pit?' Brandon suggests.

He sees the group nod their heads with the exception of Dylan. He looks over in Dylan's direction and narrows his eyes a little.

'I'll catch up with you guys,' Dylan says.

The gang begins to leave the theatre and Brenda turns toward Dylan as they walk away.

'So?' she asks.

'Baby, I am so proud of you. This really was the best show out of all of them,' he says and leans down to kiss her.

'Are you going to come to the party or go home like you always do?' Brenda asks him.

'I don't know, Bren,' Dylan whines a little.

'Well, you have time to think about it. I need to go and get changed and start helping with the set.'

'Do you need an extra set of hands?' Dylan asks her.

Brenda looks him up and down and starts to laugh. 'In that suit? You're joking right?'

'Do you want to see my impression of Superman?' Dylan says as he grabs the lapels of his suit jacket and starts to take it off.

'Ooh, maybe later,' Brenda says, raising an eyebrow as she walks back to the dressing room and starts to change out of her costume.

Brenda comes out of the dressing room ready to help and sees Dylan with his jacket off and his sleeves rolled up helping one of the crew members move some of the furniture off into storage. She starts to smile and goes to help gather props and costume pieces.

After clearing the stage of set pieces and taking down any lights that were not needed, the group begins to set up for the party. Tables and chairs come out and are set up while others begin putting out the food. The director rolls a fully stocked bar onto the stage while a crewmember places a half keg on the other side.

Brenda helps Kate set up the stereo and as the music comes blaring out of the speakers they turn to see everyone looking around and admiring their work.

The director begins to pour several shots and hands them out to the crew. Dylan takes a step back and lets the cast and crew have their moment.

'If you will all raise your glasses, I have a toast to make. To all of you who put your blood, sweat, and tears into this production, I just wanted to say how eternally grateful I am for all of the hard work you did to make this the best run I've ever been a part of. Last but not least, to Joe, Kate, Chris, and Brenda, I can die happy now that I have fulfilled my dream. Thank you and Salute!'

The group collectively takes their shots.

'Let's get this party started!' Chris yells.

Brenda walks over to where Dylan was hiding in the shadows and pulls him to her. He wraps his arms around her and pulls her tight.

'I'm going to take off, Bren,' he says to the top of her head.

Brenda nods and lifts her eyes to meet his. 'I know. I have to stay for a little while,' she says.

Dylan nods his head and kisses her forehead. 'Be careful and call me if you need a ride,' he says.

Brenda smiles at him. 'I'll be alright. I'm not staying long so I'll see you in an hour or so, okay?' she says.

Dylan nods his head and hugs her one more time. He walks off of the stage and passes a crowd of people coming into the building for the party. He goes over to the Peach Pit and joins his friends.

Dylan sips his coffee as he listens to Jason talk about his experiences in L.A. and how different they are from his experiences in London.

'You guys can go back over anytime, I think they're done cleaning up and everything,' Dylan says when Jason finishes.

Jason smiles and puts his hands together. 'This is the best part of a show,' he tells Donna.

'The after party?' she asks him.

'Yup, the after party and the last goodbye to the show,' Jason says. 'I hope Brenda and the rest of the cast will let me watch as they say goodbye. Everyone does it differently, but I can't wait to see how they do it,' Jason explains.

Brandon turns and looks at Dylan as everyone else gets up and starts to move toward the door.

'D, are you alright?' Brandon asks him.

Dylan turns and meets Brandon's eyes. He nods slowly and sips his coffee. 'Yeah.'

Brandon nods back and gets up to join everyone else. Dylan throws some money on the table after a few minutes and drives himself home.

Brenda spies Brandon and Kelly walking toward her and starts to move in their direction.

'Hey, guys, I'm glad you came back,' she says with a smile.

Jason and Donna join the group hand in hand.

'Where's Steve?' Brenda asks. Donna immediately points and everyone turns to look in the direction she was pointing.

'Ah, fresh prey,' Brandon says as they see Steve trying to woo several of Kate's high school friends.

Brenda starts to laugh and everyone else joins in as Chris joins the group holding his script.

'Brenda, we're ready, are you?' he asks her. She stares down at the script and then back up at him and slowly nods her head.

'This is it,' Jason whispers to Donna. 'I wish Sean was here to see it.'

'Brenda, can I be an innocent bystander and watch?' Jason asks her.

'The more the merrier,' Chris says. Brenda shrugs, goes to her bag, pulls out her script, and follows Chris, Joe, and Kate outside to the parking lot.

The four of them stand in a circle around a metal barrel. Brandon and the gang stand several feet behind them as they talk quietly to one another.

Joe holds his script above his head after a few minutes and says in a loud, clear voice, 'In memory of Nick.'

All of a sudden Joe's script erupts in flames as he tosses it into the barrel in front of them.

'In memory of Honey,' Kate says and lights her script.

'In memory of George,' Chris says.

Brenda takes a deep breath and pauses a few seconds after Chris throws his burning script into the barrel.

Choking back a few tears, she says, 'In memory of Martha.'

Brenda lights her script and watches it burn for a few seconds before tossing it into the barrel with the others.

They stand, holding each other, staring at the burning barrel.

Donna turns to see a tear roll down Jason's face as he stands with his mouth open watching them.

'That is the most intense thing I have ever seen,' he says quietly.

Brandon, Kelly, and Steve exchange confused looks with each other before turning and going back inside.

The glow of the ash in the barrel lights up the faces of Joe, Kate, Chris, and Brenda as they cling to each other for dear life.

'It has been a pleasure to have worked with all of you,' Joe says.

'I have learned more during the course of this play than any class could ever teach me,' Kate says.

'Of all of the plays I have had the privilege to be a part of, this one was the most gratifying,' Chris says. 'You guys made George bearable for the time he was around and I will never forget it.'

Brenda lifts her head slightly and looks at all of them. 'I just wanted to say that I have never cared about anything more than this play up to this point in my life. There have been so many things that I thought were important that I now know were just not. I have loved and hated this woman for so long and I can't tell you how much having the opportunity to be her for this short time has open my eyes to pathways I never knew were there. Thank you for helping me to be a better person.'

The four of them squeeze each other for another minute before pouring water on the ashes of their former lives. They wipe their tears, compose themselves, and go back to join the party.

Brenda grabs her things and works the room saying her goodbyes. She stands before her friends and watches Steve and Jason do a shot at the bar.

'Okay, guys, I'm going to head out. I'm exhausted,' she tells them.

Brandon puts his arm around her and says, 'I'm really proud of you, Bren.'

Brenda smiles and hugs him. She waves goodbye to her friends and leaves the theatre. She stands outside in the parking lot staring at the front of the building for about five minutes.

She kisses her hand and blows it toward the building, gets in the car, and drives over to Dylan's house.

Brenda pulls up the driveway to Dylan's house and sees him open the door as she shuts the car off.

She walks up to him and smiles, staring at his lanky frame in the doorway.

He grabs her hand and pulls her inside. Brenda opens her mouth to say something, but Dylan puts his finger over her lips and shakes his head.

He grabs her bag and puts it on the floor. He puts his hand over her eyes and carefully leads her deeper into the house. He slowly removes his hand from her face as she stares at the dining room table.

The candles on the table flicker as she sets her eyes on the beautifully laid out table settings.

'First we dine,' Dylan whispers in her ear. Brenda smiles up at him as he moves around her and pulls out a chair for her to sit in.

She sits down and watches him pour sparkling cider into the glasses on the table. They eat in near silence as Brenda steals glances at him throughout the meal.

'Dylan,' Brenda starts to say.

'Not yet, Bren,' Dylan says with a smile on his face. He picks up the dishes from the table and brings them into the kitchen. He returns with a small wrapped box draped with a beautiful gold bow.

'Dylan, really, you,' Brenda tries to get out.

'Sssssssh,' he says and puts his finger up to her lips.

She takes the box from his hands and stares at if for a few seconds. She looks up at him and sees him nod her head and then begins to untie the bow.

She unwraps the box and opens it to reveal a key ring with two keys on it. She lifts the keys out of the box and stares at them with confusion.

'Bren, I know that you've decided that this is your last semester at school and that you want to pursue acting full time. I don't want to ever experience the feeling I had the night of the talent show when no one knew where you were or what happened, so this gift is two-fold,' Dylan says and stands up.

He puts his hand out for her to grab and pulls her out of her chair. He opens the back door to the house and reveals a small blue car parked in his driveway.

Brenda's mouth drops as she stares at the car with a big red bow on it.

'Dylan, you bought me a car?' Brenda says with disbelief.

'Well, it's a used car, but it's good and sturdy and runs like a dream. I don't want you to worry about getting anywhere if I'm not around and I don't want you to have to play car tag with your parents anymore,' he explains.

'Oh my God,' she says and takes a step toward the car.

Dylan smiles and lets out the breath he had been holding. He was afraid that she might get upset or angry with him for trying to control her or something. He grabs Brenda's hand and pulls her around to the driver's door and opens it for her.

She sits down and takes a deep breath. 'Wow, I can't believe you did this for me,' she says.

Dylan kneels beside the door and smiles at her.

Brenda puts the key in the ignition and starts the car. It purrs to life and Brenda turns her head toward Dylan with a huge smile on her face.

She turns the car off and gets out. She wraps her arms around him and squeezes him tight.

'I love you, Bren, and I just want to ease your way a little,' he says to her.

'Thank you, Dylan. I love you more than you could ever know,' she says. He leans down to kiss her and pulls her as close as he can.

Brenda drops the keys in her hand and puts both of her hands on the back of Dylan's head.

'Whoa,' he says.

Brenda smiles and leans down to pick up the keys off of the ground. 'Dylan, does this car need two keys? What's the other one for?' she asks, staring at the second key on the ring.

'Um, no, just the one,' he says with a smile. 'Let me show you where this one goes.'

Dylan takes her hand and leads her around the house to the front door. He slides the key into the door and opens it.

Dylan takes a deep breath and looks at her face. Her eyes have started to tear up and he sees her trying to stay calm and composed.

'I know it didn't quite work out last time, but the circumstances are different this time and I really want you to be here with me,' Dylan says with hope in his voice.

Brenda gulps trying to clear her throat enough to speak.

'You want me to move it with you?' she finally gets out.

Dylan grabs her hand and squeezes it tight. He leads her into the house, taking the keys with him.

He places the keys into her hand and kisses her forehead.

'Bren, I can't think of anything I want more,' he says.

_The Beach Apartment_

Kelly and Brandon enter the apartment leaving Donna and Jason outside in front of the door.

'So, does she seem happy with him?' Brandon asks Kelly.

Kelly stares toward the door and sighs.

'You know, Brandon, I really hate to say this because David is family, but I don't think I've ever seen Donna laugh so much or sing,' Kelly says.

'Sing?'

'She sings while making breakfast, while in the shower, while getting dressed, it's the most noise I've heard out of her, ever,' Kelly says.

'I never thought I'd say this, because I was hoping that David wouldn't be stupid enough to screw this up, but good for Donna. It's about time someone made her happy,' Brandon says.

'I hope she stays that way,' Kelly says skeptically.

'Let's not worry about her anymore tonight,' Brandon says, wrapping his arms around her.

'Oh,' Kelly says putting her arms around his neck.

'We haven't had much time to spend together lately with all of the craziness going on,' Brandon says as he kisses her neck.

'You're right, we haven't,' Kelly says, moving her head to expose more of her neck for him.

_Outside the Apartment_

'Thanks for coming with me tonight Jason,' Donna says.

'I had a great time, thank you for inviting me. It's too bad that Sean and Lily couldn't see the final show. I know that Sean was kind of mad that he wouldn't be able to make it,' Jason says.

'Well, I'm happy that you had the night off to spend it with me,' Donna says as she squeezes his hand.

Jason lifts his hand to caress her face and says, 'Donna, you don't know how happy I was when you called the other night. I was almost jumping up and down when you told me that you wanted to explore our friendship further.'

Donna smiles and leans in to his hand. 'I really do, Jason. I'm ready to move on with someone who is not David. I just want to have fun and be stress-free for a while,' she says.

'I promise, no stress and lots of fun,' he says as he leans in to kiss her. She willingly accepts his lips and puts her hand on the back of his head.

_Dylan's House_

Brenda smiles up at Dylan with tears in her eyes. 'I think that this has to be one of the most incredible days of my entire life,' she says.

'I love you, Bren,' he says and leans down to kiss her. She kisses him passionately back and before she knows what is happening Dylan's shirt is completely unbuttoned and halfway off of his body.

He moans in her mouth as she starts moving her hands up and down his back. She takes his belt off with ease and throws it on the floor. Dylan starts to kiss her neck and take her shirt off as she unbuttons his pants and drops them to the floor.

Brenda starts to laugh a little and feels Dylan smile into her skin. He removes her shirt and steps out of his pants. He picks her up quickly and moves them to the couch as fast as he can.

He lays her down and in an instant she pulls him by the waist on top of her.

_The Beach Apartment_

Brandon puts his arms around Kelly's waist as she slowly walks them backward to her bedroom. They just make it into her room before the front door opens and Donna comes in.

Donna closes the front door and moves through the apartment to her bedroom. She starts humming to herself as she walks down the hall.

Brandon and Kelly turn toward the door at the same time as they hear Donna singing to herself.

Brandon starts to laugh as Kelly tries to shush him by putting her hand over his mouth. He backs her up to the bed and lays her down gently.

'Trying to shut me up, huh?' he says with a smile.

'Come closer and I won't have to try,' she says.


	37. Chapter 37

_**The Time of Our Lives**__** – Chapter 37**_

Brenda wakes up the next morning with Dylan's arms wrapped tightly around the middle of her body. She closes her eyes for a second and enjoys the feeling of being so close to him.

She shifts her body so that he eases his grip and gets out of the bed. She puts on a shirt and a pair of pants and takes a step toward the door.

'Where are you going?' she hears a sleepy Dylan ask her.

Brenda turns around to see that Dylan is trying to open his eyes, but can't quite get them all of the way open.

'I have to pee,' she says with a smile and leaves the room.

Dylan rubs his eyes with both hands and finally gets them open. He stares at the ceiling in his bedroom , trying to quiet the pang of nervousness inside his body.

'_I made the right decision. I made the right decision. I want her here and I want her to be happy. This is not going to be like last time. We're better than that.'_

Brenda comes back into the bedroom with a glass of water and sits on the edge of the bed.

'Guess what I have to do today?' she asks him.

Dylan screws up his face at her and says, 'What?'

Brenda smiles broadly and puts her hand on his cheek. 'Nothing,' she says and kisses the end of his nose.

Dylan smiles back at her and pulls her down onto his chest.

'What should we do, you know, besides the obvious?' she asks him.

'How about we get the most uncomfortable conversation with your parents out of the way so that we can pack up your stuff?' Dylan suggests.

Brenda thinks about what he said for a few seconds. 'I grant you that the conversation is going to be extraordinarily uncomfortable, but I can't in good faith say that it is or will be the most uncomfortable conversation I've ever had with them,' Brenda says with a smile.

'Let's not go there, Bren,' Dylan says.

'Okay, well, if we're going to do that today, then maybe we should do that before I eat breakfast,' she suggests.

'Come on, Bren, it's not going to be that bad,' Dylan says as he kisses her head and gets out of bed.

'How about,' he says, pulling her to him, 'we get cleaned up, eat some food, and then just get it over with?'

Brenda reluctantly smiles and then starts to laugh. He pulls her into the bathroom and shuts the door behind them.

_The Beach Apartment_

'Brandon,' Kelly says as she hands him a cup of coffee, 'how about we go and get something to eat and then find David and make sure he's not going insane or trying to hurt himself?'

'That sounds like a good idea. I'm kind of worried about him,' Brandon agrees.

_The Peach Pit_

Brandon and Kelly get out of the car and start to walk into the Peach Pit when they see a little blue car whip around the corner and into a parking space.

Brenda gets out of the car laughing when she sees Dylan jump out of his seat and wipe the sweat from his forehead.

'Oh, come on, stop being so dramatic, it wasn't that bad,' she says.

He plays it up a little more and then puts his arm her. They start to walk toward the entrance when they finally notice Brandon and Kelly standing at the door with their mouths open.

'Brenda? What the hell are you driving? Did you steal someone's car?' Brandon asks her.

'No, of course I didn't steal anyone's car, Brandon, don't be silly,' she says. Dylan raises his eyebrows at them as he follows Brenda into the diner.

'Okay, the world is not right if Brenda is driving Dylan around in some random used car,' Kelly says. 'Did we slip through some sort of time warp into the Twilight Zone?'

Brandon smiles sheepishly and pulls her in. They join Dylan and Brenda at a table and order coffee.

'So, are you going to tell us what the hell is going on?' Kelly asks them.

Brenda and Dylan exchange looks and shrug.

'Nothing's going on, Dylan just isn't used to me driving,' Brenda says.

'Can someone get used to that?' Dylan asks. Brenda turns and hits him lightly in the upper arm.

'Okay, go back, start from the beginning,' Brandon says.

Brenda lets out a deep breath and looks over to Dylan for reassurance before she starts to speak.

'Well, after I left the party I went back to Dylan's house. I had made the decision a while ago that I was going to pursue my acting career full time instead of returning to school in the spring,' Brenda pauses and waits for that piece of information to sink in.

Brandon shakes his head and tries to understand what Brenda just said. 'Wait, what?'

Brenda stays quiet and lets it sink in a little further. After a few seconds goes by, the light bulb goes off over Brandon's head.

'You're not going back to school?'

'That's right, I'm going to finish out the semester and drop out,' she says again.

'Wow, that's something I didn't expect,' Kelly says.

'So, Dylan and I talked about this already and last night when I got to his house from the party,' Brenda begins and then looks over at Dylan.

'I decided that I wasn't going to be driving her ass around and that her borrowing a car from someone to go where she needed to go was inconvenient, so I went down to the lot and picked something up,' Dylan says nonchalantly.

'Picked something up?' Kelly says, 'Dylan, you bought her a car.'

'You bought her a car, that car outside?' Brandon asks sounding a flabbergasted.

Dylan shrugs his shoulders again and lets them work it through in their own heads.

Brenda smiles as Nat comes over to the table.

'Good morning, good morning, what can I get for you?' he says happily.

'Nat, it's totally a pancake day,' Brenda says, closing her menu and handing it to him.

'You got it sweetie, Dylan?'

'Just a few eggs, Nat, thanks,' he says.

'And for you two?'

Brenda and Dylan stare at Kelly and Brandon, who haven't moved an inch since sitting down.

'Uh, Nat, just get them the usual or make something up,' Brenda says with a smile.

Nat walks away from the table completely confused and shaking his head.

'So, you're dropping out of school and you're free as a bird because you now have a car you can drive around,' Brandon restates.

'Right, see, that wasn't so bad,' Brenda says as she turns and smiles at Dylan.

'Yeah, well, these guys are nothing compared to, you know,' he says, raising his eyebrows and then taking a sip of his coffee.

Brandon again stares at Dylan in confusion when another light bulb goes off.

'Oh my God, you have to tell Mom and Dad, don't you?' he asks Brenda.

'We're going over there as soon as we're done here. I thought a little dry run on you guys might help,' she says with a smile.

'Dry run, Bren? We are not even close to reacting anywhere near the freak out Mom and Dad are going to have when you tell them,' he says.

'Well, I'm pretty sure that this will not freak them out as much as what else we have to tell them,' Brenda says staring at Dylan the entire time.

Kelly's eyes light up and open wide as she grips the table with both of her hands and scans the Brenda's fingers for a ring. 'Bren?' she says impatiently.

'I've asked Brenda to move in with me,' Dylan says staring back at Brenda, 'for real this time.'

Brenda smiles at him as he grabs one of her hands and laces his fingers with hers.

Brandon stares at them with his mouth open for the second time that morning. He immediately stands up and starts looking around.

'Brandon, what are you doing?' Brenda asks him.

'Looking for the phone, I'm going to call the funeral home and warn them that they're about to get two bodies,' he says quickly.

'Brandon, sit down and stop being so dramatic. I'm old enough to make my own decisions, including when to move out of my parent's house,' Brenda says indignantly.

Brandon sits slowly and smiles to himself. 'Okay, Bren,' he says calmly. 'Kel, pack your bags, we're getting out of dodge. This town is going to be a crater after my mother explodes.'

Kelly starts to laugh at him and pats him on the shoulder. 'Now, come on, Brandon, be realistic. I'm pretty sure your parents don't want you or Brenda in their house for the rest of your lives. You're going to have to move out eventually and Brenda here is just paving the way,' Kelly says.

Nat comes over to the table with their food and sets it down in front of them.

'Bon appétit!' he says with a smile and walks to the counter.

'Merci!' Brenda responds and picks up her fork.

Brandon does not speak throughout the entire meal. He picks at his plate, taking a few bites here and there. He doesn't actually lift his head at all until he sees Brenda start to get up.

'See you guys later,' Brenda says as she walks toward the exit.

'Good luck, Dylan,' Kelly says.

'Thanks,' he says and follows Brenda out of the door.

'Come on, Brandon, talk to me,' Kelly says.

Brandon looks up at her and shakes his head a little.

'I'm sorry, I just hate to see Brenda continue to trip over herself. I know that it's probably a good thing for her right now, but what about next month, next year?' he says.

'Brenda is going to have to make her own mistakes. If the two of them want to make a go of it for real this time, then things have to change. We'll just have to sit back and keep the couch warm just in case,' Kelly says.

'Yeah, I guess,' he says and throws his fork onto his plate.

_Casa Walsh_

Dylan and Brenda sit in the car after pulling up the driveway.

'Are you ready for this?' Dylan asks her. 'We don't have to do this today you know.'

Brenda nods her head. 'Yeah, I know, but the sooner we do it the better.' Brenda opens the door and gets out of the car.

_The Campus Café_

Kelly and Brandon enter the café on campus after hearing from the boys on David's hall that he headed down here. They scan the café until they see him at the counter paying for a yogurt.

'David,' Kelly says loudly and starts to wave at him.

He turns his head slowly toward her and then drops it quickly. She walks toward him and stands next to him at the counter.

'What do you want, Kel?' David asked, dejected.

'Come on, David, I just wanted to see how you were doing,' she says. 'You're not answering your phone.'

'Well, Kelly, I'm mad, frustrated, annoyed, disheartened, hurt, depressed, and I just want to be left alone,' he spits at her.

'With all of those healthy emotions, you bet, no problem,' she spits back.

Brandon steps up to David and tries to get his attention.

'David, we know this is not exactly ideal, but you need to look at this as just another phase of your relationship with Donna. She loves you, that you know, you either have to weather this storm or move on without her,' Brandon says.

'I know, Brandon,' David glares at him, 'that's what I'm trying to figure out. I don't think I can watch her run around with that guy and I don't think I can just move on to someone new. I'm just torn and I need some time to deal with it.'

'David, we are more than willing to give you that time, but you have to promise me that before you even have a second thought about doing something stupid that you will call me. I am not joking in any way,' Brandon says.

'I hear you, now leave me alone, both of you,' David says and walks out of the café.

_Casa Walsh_

Dylan jumps out of the car and catches up with Brenda. 'Bren, wait,' he says quickly.

He grabs her arm and turns her around.

'What is it?' she asks with concern.

'Okay, hear me out on this. Brandon might have a point,' Dylan begins.

'What do you mean?'

'Maybe we should ease your parents into this and tell them only one thing at a time,' he suggests.

Brenda's immediate gut feeling rises within her body and she tries as hard as she can not to get angry.

'I know what you're thinking,' Dylan says quickly, seeing the color rise in her face, 'and I know that you want to just get it over with, but let's be real here. Let's tell them about school first, then little by little you can start bring stuff over to my house and when the semester ends, they'll be in a better state of mind to handle our other news.'

Brenda stops herself and listens intently to what Dylan is telling her. The pleading look on his face tells her right away that maybe Brandon did have a point about their mother exploding.

She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. She looks back up into his face and nods her head once.

'Okay,' she says.

Dylan eyes her carefully to see if maybe she was just pulling his leg.

'Okay?' he asks skeptically.

'Yeah,' she says with a smile, 'okay.'

Dylan furrows his brow and tries not to move a muscle. He's not quite sure what just happened and he's not sure it was real.

Brenda puts her hand on his arm to reassure him.

'You're right and Brandon is right. If we do it that way, then you are just here for support of my decision to leave school. If we tell them about school and us moving in together, then they'll think we've reverted back to our retarded high school way of thinking and not see us as mature, responsible adults who can run our own lives,' Brenda says.

Dylan puts the back of his head to Brenda's forehead. 'Are you feeling alright? Where's my Brenda?' he asks her.

Brenda smiles at him and shakes her head. 'Come on,' she says and leads him up to the house.

_David's Dormitory_

David enters his room and throws his books on the desk. He sits on his bed and puts his head in his hands. He tries as hard as he can to wrap his head around what Donna had told him over the phone, but struggles to make heads or tails of it.

He lifts his head and stares as the phone. He reluctantly gets up, dials the phone, and is relieved when he hears a voice on the other end.

'Hello?'

'Dad?' David says quietly.

'David, what's wrong?' Mel immediately says after hearing his son's voice.

'Does your insurance still cover me?' David asks hopefully.

'Of course it does, what's the matter? What happened?' Mel asks impatiently.

'I think I need to talk to someone,' David admits. 'I'm not doing so well and I'm scared of making a bad decision.'

'I'm coming to get you, just stay right there,' Mel says quickly.

David hangs up the phone after listening to the dial tone for a few seconds. He puts the phone back on the cradle and sits back down on his bed. He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly trying to calm his heart rate.

_The Beach Apartment_

Donna puts the finishing touches on her makeup as she hears the doorbell ring. She jumps a little and then laughs out loud to herself. She skips to the front door in her bathrobe and opens it to find Jason standing on her doorstep in a very nice suit.

'Good early evening,' he says and kisses her on the cheek.

'Good evening,' she says. 'I'll be done in just a moment.'

Jason steps into the apartment and patiently waits while Donna goes back into her bedroom. Donna puts her dress on and looks at herself one last time in the mirror before walking out to meet Jason.

'Wow, you look incredible,' he says.

'Thank you, are you ready to go?' she asks him.

'Lead the way,' he says motioning toward the door.

She walks ahead of him and then closes the door to the apartment after he steps out. He walks toward the car and opens the door for her.

She smiles and gets into the passenger seat.

'So, where are we going for dinner?' Donna asks with excitement.

'Ah, that is a surprise, my dear,' he says with a wink and continues to drive.

Jason pulls the car up and Donna's eyes open as wide as they can get.

'Jason,' she starts to say.

'Ah, no protesting, I want this to be a magical evening, and we're going to start it off right,' he says as he gets out of the car and gives the keys to the valet.

The door opens and Donna steps out, staring up at the beautiful 'Spago' sign.

'My dear,' he says, offering her his arm. She puts her hand around his arm as he leads her inside.

_Casa Walsh_

'Well, this is a nice surprise, I wasn't expecting you to be here today,' Cindy says as Brenda and Dylan sit in the living room with glasses of water.

Brenda smiles at her mother and glances sideways at Dylan. 'There's something I wanted to talk to you and Dad about,' Brenda begins.

Cindy's face drops a little as she registers the tone in Brenda's voice.

'Um, okay, sweetie, let me go and get your father,' she says and leaves the room.

'And it begins,' Brenda says to Dylan.

'It's going to be fine, just tell them everything and let them digest it for a while,' he says rubbing her upper arm.

'Yeah, right,' she says as her parents come into the room.

'Brenda, Dylan,' Jim says, shaking Dylan's hand and kissing Brenda on top of her head.

'Hi Dad,' Brenda says.

'So, what do you need to tell us?' Jim asks, sitting down next to Cindy.

'Well, I received a call from one of the directors at Actor's Equity and he told me that once my application is officially approved that there were plenty of jobs lined up for someone like me to really make a go of it,' Brenda says.

She sees her father start nodding his head slowly and watches her mother grip both of her hands together across her lap.

'I really feel that this is my calling and that this is a perfect opportunity to get my career off to a good start, that I want to start right away,' she says slowly.

'That's wonderful sweetheart, you really are very talented and I think you are on the right track for a fantastic career in acting,' Jim says.

'Well,' Brenda says apprehensively, 'there's a little bit of a catch to this situation and that's what I wanted to talk to you about.'

She sees confusion in both of her parents face and glances sideways toward Dylan. He puts his hand on the small of her back to reassure her as she continues.

Brenda quickly lets out a breath and decides that she just has to blurt it out and let it hang in the room in order to get through this.

'I'm going to finish out the semester at CU and then drop out to pursue my acting career,' she says quickly. She tries as hard as she can not to drop her eyes to the floor.

Cindy leans toward Brenda in her seat and says, 'You're going to what?'


	38. Chapter 38

_**The Time of Our Lives – Chapter 38**_

'Brenda, I know that there is a juicy opportunity being dangled in front of you, but have you really thought through what not having a college degree will do?' Jim asks her.

'Dad, I have been thinking about this for about 3 months. This is not some snap decision that I made this morning or anything. My classes are only going to take me so far and I can always go back to school and get my degree if I really feel like I need it. I need to start getting real life experience or I'm never going to make it. Just being a part of RADA alone is enough to vault me above a lot of other actors that are struggling to get jobs right now. I really have thought about this, Dad, and,' Brenda pauses for a few seconds, 'it's what I want to do.'

Jim and Cindy both look up at Dylan at the same time. Dylan looks back at them and shakes his head.

'It wasn't my idea, I assure you. I'm just here to support Brenda in her decision to live her life the way that she sees fit. We have been talking about this for a long time, and I asked all of the same questions that you have,' Dylan tells them.

Brenda nods her head at Dylan's admission. 'Dylan convinced me to at least finish out the semester and make sure that this decision was the one I really wanted to make. I was ready to leave a month ago,' Brenda says, 'and with each passing day, I feel more and more confident that I am making the right choice for me.'

Cindy sighs out loud and closes her mouth, which had been open almost the entire time that Brenda was talking.

'Well, Brenda, you're almost twenty years old and there is not a whole lot we can say or do right now to change your mind, but if you are going to be living here while pursuing a career, then you will need to start contributing to this household,' Jim states.

Brenda nods her head in agreement with her father. 'Absolutely,' she agrees.

Cindy tries to hide her shock of Brenda's quick agreement. 'Brenda, you do know what that means, right?' she asks her, trying to make sure that her daughter understood what they were saying.

'Yes, Mom, tell me how much I need to contribute and I will gladly pay it until I can find a place of my own,' she says, planting the seed of moving out of her parent's house.

Jim stands up and puts his hands on his hips. 'You're growing up so fast, Brenda, I just don't want you to rush into this and miss out on things you should be doing at this age,' he says.

'I know, Dad, but I need to do this,' she says, looking up at her father.

'Okay,' Jim says and nods his head. 'I'll go run the numbers.' Jim leaves the room with Cindy following close behind.

Dylan watches them climb the stairs whispering to each other. He turns back to see the excitement and achievement on Brenda's face.

'I did it, Dylan! I told them and they didn't kill me,' she says as she throws her arms around him.

'Yet, they haven't killed you yet,' he says. 'I'm so proud of you. Nice job with the moving out line too,' he says to her.

'Yeah, did you like that? It was perfect too,' she says.

'Well, little lady, looks like you need to get a job in a hurry and we need to start getting your stuff out of here or you won't be able to afford to have a room here,' he says.

'Yeah, I know, I hope they won't make the rent astronomical just to spite me,' Brenda says.

'I'm pretty sure your parents are not that vindictive,' he says.

Brenda huffs at him. She takes a sip of water and sees her parents re-enter the room.

Jim and Cindy sit back down and Jim stares down at a piece of paper in his hand.

'Well, Brenda, we crunched the numbers and because you're our daughter and we love you, we decided that your rent will be set at two hundred and fifty dollars per month,' Jim says. 'Of course we've taken into account that we no longer will have to pay your tuition for college or any other expenses related to your attendance at California University.'

Brenda nods her head and says, 'That's fair.'

'Since you are going to stay in school for the rest of the semester and since you would be returning to school in mid-January, if you were going back, your first rent payment will be due the first of February,' Jim states.

'Okay, Dad,' Brenda says. She stands up and walks closer to her parents. She leans down and gives her father a hug.

'Thank you for understanding and not freaking out,' she says. She leans down and hugs her mother too and then takes a few steps away from them.

'Well, we're going to go now,' she says as Dylan gets up from his seat and follows her outside.

They get into the car and start to drive away before Brenda breaks the silence.

'Don't you think that was weird there at the end?' she asks him.

'Um, I think your parents were taken over by aliens when they went upstairs. There was definitely something going on,' Dylan says with an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

'Maybe they think it was a big setup or something,' she suggests.

'It's possible that they really thought that you wouldn't go through with it, but I have the feeling it's something more than that,' he says.

'Yeah,' Brenda says, trying to figure out what her parents were up to.

_Casa Walsh_

Jim and Cindy watch as Brenda and Dylan leave the house.

'Jim!' Cindy says.

'Cindy, just relax,' Jim starts to say.

'Relax? Relax! Jim!' Cindy yells.

'Listen, you and I know Brenda better than anyone else. One of several things could happen in this situation; one, she could fail to find a job that pays anything and have no choice, but to go back to school; two, she could fail to find an acting job and spend her time waiting tables or something just to prove us wrong; or three, she finds a job and her career takes off,' Jim says proudly.

'Jim, there are plenty of other things that could happen here. What if she doesn't find a job, but doesn't want to look as if she failed, so she start lying and sneaking around to make money to pay us and then she gets into a bad crowd and starts doing drugs or prostituting herself and,' Cindy starts to lose it completely as she thinks of the horrible things that could happen to her daughter.

Jim puts his hands on Cindy's shoulders. 'Honey, calm down, please, you're hysterical,' he says.

'Brenda has always been and will hopefully always be completely bullheaded about how she goes about living her life. She needs to make those mistakes on her own. This is so much better than any of the thoughts I had running through my head when you told me she had something to tell us,' Jim says.

'Like what?' Cindy asks him, calming down.

'You can't tell me that you didn't have horrible thoughts of what the two of them were here to tell us, can you?'

'Well, my heart sank a little bit when she first said it. I guess I did have some bad things in my mind,' Cindy admits.

'I really thought she was going to tell us that she was running away with Dylan to get married or that she was pregnant or something,' Jim tells her.

Cindy nods her head. 'I thought the same thing,' she says and starts to laugh.

Jim hugs his wife and starts to laugh with her. 'Our little girl is growing up and it's time we let her,' he says softly.

'She must think we've completely lost our minds,' Cindy says.

'Well, we'll let her think that for a while,' Jim says. 'She's put us through enough when she was in high school, she can sweat this out for a little bit.'

'Do you trust her?' Jim asks his wife sincerely.

Cindy thinks about his question for a full minute before nodding her head and saying, 'Yes.'

'Well, let's enjoy the ride then,' he says.

_Spago_

Donna and Jason wait for the valet to pull the car back around.

'Are you having a good time?' Jason asks her.

'Oh, yes, I love this restaurant. Thank you for dinner, it was absolutely incredible,' Donna says.

'Good, I'm glad. Now for our next adventure,' he says, opening the passenger door for her. He walks around, tips the valet, and gets in the car.

Jason drives down Wilshire Boulevard and pulls up in front of a very prominent theatre.

'Tonight we laugh,' he says as he gets out of the car.

He leads Donna into the Saban Theatre to their seats.

'A play?' Donna says with excitement.

'You are going to love this. It's considered a farce and is a great representation of mistaken identity,' he tells her.

She looks at the playbill and sees the show title. 'Lend Me a Tenor?' she asks quizzically.

Jason just smiles and laces his fingers with hers. 'Trust me,' he says as he watches the lights flicker.

_Dylan's House_

Brenda sits at the table looking over some paperwork she picked up at the Equity office. She reads every page twice, just to make sure that she didn't miss anything. Dylan comes up behind her and starts massaging her shoulders.

'Oh, that feels good,' she says leaning into his hands.

'Anything good in there?' he asks, indicating the papers.

'Yeah, there's some great stuff in here. I have a meeting with Michael tomorrow afternoon to talk about my application and some auditions,' she tells him.

'That's great, Bren,' he says, trying to hide his trepidation.

'Dylan,' Brenda starts to say as she turns to face him in the chair, 'what do you really think is going on with my parents?'

'I don't know, Bren, but for the moment, let's just enjoy their non-involvement while it lasts,' he says and leans down to kiss her.

Brenda instantly forgets her worries and snakes her arms around his neck.

_Dr. Chase's Office_

David and Mel sit in the waiting room of the doctor's office. David shakes his leg repeatedly until his name is called by the woman at the front desk.

Mel puts his hand on David's shoulder and nods.

David walks into the office and sits down on one of the chairs.

A middle aged, fairly good looking woman enters the room with a folder in her hand.

'David?' she asks him.

David nods and shakes her outstretched hand.

'I'm Dr. Chase, it's nice to meet you. I see that this is not your first visit to a counselor,' she says, reading his chart.

'No, it's definitely not,' he says.

'Why don't you tell me why you're here today?' she asks and sits down across from him.

David summarizes the last year of his life for her, trying to be as honest with himself as he possibly could.

'After the big fight, where Donna told me that she thought we needed to start seeing other people to figure out if we wanted to be together, I kind of just agreed. I guess I was hoping that she'd be too chicken to do it, but she wasn't. She's started seeing that Jason guy and then it became real. Brandon and Kelly were really worried that I'd try to hurt myself or something, and I can't say that I didn't think about it. That's why I'm here,' he finishes.

'Well, it sounds like we've got some work to do,' she says.

_The Beach Apartment_

'Well, I guess I can't prolong the inevitable,' Brandon says as he stands up and takes a step toward the door.

'Brandon, stop worrying, it'll be fine. I'm sure your house is still standing and we didn't get any frantic phone calls from Brenda freaking out, so I'm sure everything is alright,' Kelly says.

'Yeah, we'll see,' he says and kisses her. 'Bye.'

Brandon walks to his car and drives as quickly as he can to his house. He was nervous about going in, but curiosity had definitely gotten the better of him and he had been antsy all day in anticipation.

Brandon walks into his house and quickly scans the living room looking for his parents. He hears his mother laugh from the direction of the kitchen and goes to investigate.

He steps into the kitchen and sees his parents at the kitchen table, drinking wine, and playing Scrabble.

'Hey, guys,' Brandon says with confusion.

'Brandon, your father is trying to cheat at this game, can you believe that?' Cindy says with a smile.

'No, I can't believe that,' he says quickly, 'So, did you talk to Brenda at all today?'

'Yes, we did, I assume that you knew about this?' Jim asks.

'If knowing means that she told me about an hour before she told you, than yes. She told Kelly and I while we were eating breakfast at the Peach Pit,' Brandon says and sits at the table with his parents.

'So?' he prompts.

'Your mother and I worked out a deal with her, so don't worry about it. Everything is just fine,' he says, going back to his tiles to try to come up with his next word.

'Fine, huh?' he says. 'What deal?'

'If Brenda wants to tell you what she agreed to, let her,' Cindy says. 'We're staying out of it.'

Brandon watches as his parents go back to playing the game. He gets up slowly and walks up to his room. He picks up the phone quickly and dials over to Dylan's house. The phone rings a few times and an out of breath Dylan answers.

'Yeah?'

'Dylan, it's Brandon, is Brenda there? I really need to talk to her,' he says firmly.

'Uh, yeah, sure Brandon,' Dylan says as he puts the phone down.

'Bren? Brandon's on the phone for you,' Dylan yells into the bedroom.

'Now? Damn,' he hears her say. She walks out of the bedroom tying the belt to the robe she brought over from her house and takes the phone from him.

Dylan smacks her on the ass as he walks by and smiles when she playfully yelps.

'Brandon, what's going on?' she asks.

'First of all, I don't know what the hell you guys are doing over there, but I'd like to not ever hear that again. Second, what the hell is up with Mom and Dad?' he asks her.

'What do you mean?' Brenda asks cautiously.

'I came home to them drinking wine and playing Scrabble at the kitchen table. When I asked them if they talked to you, they told me that if I wanted to know what you agreed to, I'd have to ask you and that they were staying out of it,' Brandon informs her.

'What? That's weird. I can't believe they didn't tell you anything,' she says with surprise.

'So, what happened?'

'Well, I told them that I was dropping out to act and that I had really spent a lot of time thinking about it. Oh, by the way, you were right,' she tells him.

'Right about what?'

'Dylan stopped me before we went in and we only told them that I was dropping out of school. We didn't say anything about me moving in with Dylan, which kind of worked out to my benefit I think,' Brenda says.

'Well, I'm glad you listened to me for once in your life, but how did they react?' Brandon asks.

'They reacted like I thought they would, but I think I threw them off when Dad told me that if I was going to quit school, then I would have to start paying rent for living in the house, I just agreed right away. I think that freaked him out a little. They went upstairs for about ten minutes and then came down with a number,' she says.

'They want you pay rent?' Brandon asks with surprise.

'Yeah, $250 a month starting in February,' Brenda says with a smile.

'Are you kidding me? That is ridiculous, you'll be out of here before then anyway, right?'

'Of course, but they don't know that. They didn't yell or freak out in front of me or anything, Brandon. It was really weird and I think they're up to something,' Brenda confides in him.

'Bren, come on, they probably think this is just another one of your stunts and that when school starts again that you'll long for it and want to go back,' Brandon says.

'Well, they can think what they want, that's not going to happen,' Brenda says firmly.

'Well, Bren, maybe they were just relieved not to have had an 'Oh-my-God-I-think-I'm-pregnant' conversation with you again,' he says.

Brenda laughs out loud. 'That must have been terrifying for a good few minutes. I didn't even think about that!' she says, still laughing.

'I guess they're finally treating you like an adult, just what you wanted. Don't screw it up,' he says.

'Thanks for the vote of confidence, Brandon, you're the best brother ever,' Brenda says sarcastically.

'Goodnight, Bren,' he says and hangs up. 'I'll be damned,' Brandon says to himself while staring at the phone.

Brenda hangs up the phone and turns to see Dylan standing in the doorway to the bedroom.

'What did he say?'

'He said he thought Mom and Dad were acting weird too. He suggested that maybe they were just relieved that we weren't standing in their living room telling them that they were going to be grandparents,' she says. Brenda looks down at the floor thinking to herself as she puts the phone down.

Dylan smiles a little and motions for her to join him.

'Come here, Bren,' Dylan says softly. She slowly walks over to him and looks up as he puts his hand under her chin and lifts her head.

'Are you alright?'

Brenda nods.

'Seriously, are you having second thoughts already?' he asks her.

'Not at all,' she says confidently and playfully pushes him into the bedroom.

_Actor's Equity – the next afternoon_

Brenda parks her car and enters the building for her meeting.

She is shown into an office and introduced to Michael, with whom she had been talking to over the phone.

'Brenda, it's great to finally meet you,' he says. 'Please, have a seat.'

'Thank you for meeting with me today,' Brenda says, sitting down across from him.

'So, I have your application here on my desk with a giant final approval stamp on it,' he says with a smile, holding up the paper.

Brenda smiles back at him. 'That's wonderful, thank you.'

'Now, down to business, what does your availability look like?' he asks her, getting a pen and writing her name on top of a piece of paper.

'Well, I'm in school until the end of the semester and I have classes from about 9 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon during the week and I'm free on the weekends now, since I just closed a show,' she says.

Michael sits back in his chair a little bit and smiles. He turns his computer screen so that she can see that he had pulled up the local newspaper article raving about the closing weekend of the show.

'I was hoping the Brenda Walsh who received this amazing review was you,' he tells her. 'You never know, there may be more than one of you.'

'Well, let's hope not,' she says.

'Okay, I'm going to get in touch with some people and shop your resume around. Is it updated with the show you just finished?' he asks her, scanning her vitae.

'Yes, it is,' she tells him.

'When is the semester over?' he asks her.

'Um, a week from this coming Friday,' she says.

'Great, I will get this around and I'm sure I'll be in touch within the next few days. Be ready to go at a moment's notice. Anyone who can work with your availability is going to be calling me quickly. There are a lot of jobs out there for someone like you and we're going to find you one,' he says.

Brenda smiles confidently at him and stands up. She shakes his hand, thanks him again, and almost skips out of the office.


	39. Chapter 39

_**The Time of Our Lives – Chapter 39**_

Brenda gets in her car and drives over to Dylan's house to share her exciting news with him. She pulls the car up the driveway and realizes that he's not back yet. She looks at her watch and smiles.

'Of course he's not back yet, dummy, he's still in class,' she says out loud to herself. She gets out of the car and walks to the front door, staring at it.

She looks down at the key in her hand and then back up at the door, as if she forgot how it worked.

She puts the key into the lock and turns it slowly. It clicks opens and she stands in the doorway for a few seconds taking in the feeling of being somewhere she knew she was wanted.

She puts her bag on the dining room table and gets a glass of water. She sits down to start working on a paper for English class. An hour or so goes by and she is so entranced, she almost doesn't hear the door open.

Dylan walks into the house with a huge smile on his face. He slowly walks toward her as she watches him move through the house.

'Do you know how amazing it is to have you here when I walk in?' he asks her and kisses her on the forehead.

'I felt weird using the key you gave me today,' she admits. 'It felt out of place, like I was trespassing or something.'

Dylan nods at her and puts his hand on the side of her face. 'It won't feel that way when you start bringing your things in here. It'll start to feel like home soon, I promise,' he says.

'How was class?' she asks him as he joins her at the table.

'Very interesting, how was the meeting at Equity?'

Brenda's face bursts with excitement and Dylan can't help but laugh as she tries to contain herself.

'It was amazing! My application was finally approved and Michael is going to start calling people to get me a few auditions. He said that there were a lot of jobs out there and since the semester ends soon, there will be more and more opportunities for me,' she says.

'That's great news, baby. I'm so happy for you,' he says. 'What are you working on?'

'Oh, just my final paper for English class. When is the poetry final due?' she asks him.

'Um,' he says, looking through his notebook, 'this Friday. Have you read any of the poems yet?' he asks her.

'Nope, I'm going to finish this one and get it out of the way first, that way I can spend enough time getting frustrated over poetic crap I don't understand and still have time to write the analysis paper,' she says with a smile.

'Well, we'll go through them together to ease the frustration, okay?' he says.

Brenda smiles at him. He gets up from the table and goes into the kitchen while she continues to work on her paper.

_The Beach Apartment_

Kelly gets home from class and walks into her apartment to see Donna sitting on the couch staring at the ceiling.

'Have you been here all day?' she asks.

'Yeah, my class got cancelled,' Donna says.

'Still thinking about your date?'

Donna smiles and turns her head toward Kelly, who had sat down next to her.

'It was so wonderful. The restaurant and the play,' Donna trails off.

Kelly watches a range of emotions float across Donna's face. She immediately thinks of the dejected look on David's face when she saw him and sighs.

'Well, I'm glad you're enjoying this and are finally smiling again,' Kelly says. She gets up and goes into her bedroom.

She closes her door, picks up the phone, and dials Brandon's number.

'Hey, Brandon,' she says with a little sadness in her voice when he answers the phone.

'Hey, what's the matter, Kel?' he asks with concern.

'I just feel horrible. Donna is sitting on the couch reveling in her new found happiness with Jason and I keep thinking of David and how hurt he looked when we saw him.'

'I know, Kel, I called him today to see if he wanted some company, but he didn't answer,' Brandon says.

'I'm still worried about him. What do we do?'

'There's not a whole lot we can do. We just have to keep an eye on him and try to keep him involved,' he tells her.

'Yeah, I guess,' she says.

'What are you doing right now?' she asks him after a short pause.

'I'm just writing up my final paper for my political science class. What are you doing?

'I'm about start my research for my Social Psychology paper, although I think I have enough real life information to write a book,' she jokes.

Brandon laughs a little. 'Good luck with that. I'll see you tomorrow,' he says and hangs up the phone.

He walks into the bathroom to wash his face and sees the door to Brenda's room open slightly.

He takes a step into her room and looks around. She had started to bring some things over to Dylan's house and as he looks around the room he notices gaps and holes where her things used to be.

He sighs to himself and almost laughs out loud.

'Good for you, Bren. I hope it works out this time,' he says to no one and returns to his room.

_The Dormitory_

David sits on his bed thinking about his conversation with Dr. Chase. He tries to work on the breathing exercise she taught him to calm himself down. He looks over at his desk at the prescription she had filled for him and sighs.

He pops the top of the bottle off and pulls one of the pills out.

'To help me sleep, huh?' he says, staring at the pill. He puts it into his mouth quickly and takes a sip of water.

He lies down on his bed with his hands behind his head wondering how long the pill will take to work.

_Dylan's House_

Brenda sighs and starts to put her papers back in her bag. She had gotten a rough draft of her English paper completed and smiles to herself.

'One down,' she says out loud. She looks around the house and realizes that she hasn't heard Dylan moving around at all.

She gets up to investigate what happened to him and finds him in bed with a book over his chest fast asleep. She smiles and watches him sleep for several minutes before climbing onto the bed to remove the book.

She places it on the night table and goes back to watching Dylan sleep. He looked so peaceful that she almost thought that he wasn't breathing. She caresses his cheek with her hand until he stirs a little.

He shifts his body and opens his eyes halfway.

'Mmmmmm,' he moans.

Brenda leans down and kisses him on the forehead.

'I love you baby,' she whispers to him.

'Love you too,' he says, closing his eyes and falling back to sleep.

Brenda looks around his bedroom and tries to figure out how she would ever feel at home here. She loved Dylan's house, but it was always his house, filled with his things. A place he could go and be alone, a place he felt safe. She wasn't quite sure what had prompted him to buy her a car and plead with her to move in with him.

Brenda looks back at him, trying to understand why he did what he did. She gives up and goes into the living room to shut off the lights before returning to the bedroom. She changes into pajamas and crawls into bed next to him.

As soon as he feels the heat of her body next to his, he rolls over to put his arms around her. He kisses her neck and pulls her close to him.

'I can't wait to do this every night,' he whispers into her ear.

Brenda smiles to herself, wondering what had come over him lately.

'Me too.'

_The Campus Café – a few days later_

Brenda sits in the café drinking some coffee and reading over her English final for the fourth time. She wanted to make sure it was perfect before handing it in. She had been working non-stop to get her final papers completed so that she only had her final acting monologue to prepare for next week.

She had spent the night before with Dylan working through the poetry that they needed to analyze for the final and was exhausted from staying up most of the night to finish it.

Steve walks by and almost doesn't see her sitting there.

'Hey, Brenda,' he says and joins her.

Brenda looks up from her paper and smiles. 'Hey, Steve, it's been a while since I've seen you. What's going on?'

'Ah, not much, just trying to get through this week,' he says.

'Yeah, tell me about it. It's almost over and I will be so excited when I can finally stop carrying all of these books around,' she tells him.

'I hear you,' he says.

Steve turns around to see Brandon, Dylan, Kelly, and Andrea walking toward them.

'Hey, guys,' Brandon says and sits down. 'I was just thinking that maybe we need a little break after this week of finals to get ready for next week's finals.'

'What did you have in mind, Brandon?' Brenda asks him.

'Let's get together and just hang out with the whole gang. We can play some music, relax a little, just kind of unwind, you know?' he says.

'That's sounds like a great idea. Brenda, you promised you show me how to play that card game, remember?' Andrea says with excitement.

Brenda nods slowly. 'I did, didn't I?' she says.

'I think I'm ready,' Andrea says with a smile. 'I've been practicing.'

'Practicing? Please, Andrea, tell me that you're not sitting alone drinking or anything to get ready for this?' Brenda asks her.

'No, no, nothing like that. I've been hanging out with Steve,' she says.

The table turns to look at Steve and watches him put on an innocent face and shrug his shoulders.

'Steve!' Kelly scorns him.

'What? She asked me to help her learn how to hold her alcohol. I couldn't exactly say no to a friend, now could I?' Steve says with a smile.

'This has got to be the weirdest thing I have heard from you in a long time, Andrea,' Brandon says.

Dylan stares at them with confusion. He has no idea what they are all talking about and turns his head to look at Brenda.

Brenda recognizes immediately that Dylan is lost and smiles sheepishly.

'Dylan, remember the cast party for the directing scenes that you didn't want to come to?' Brenda asks him.

Dylan nods his head slowly. 'Yeah.'

'Andrea was introduced to some high level drinking games and there was one going on that she just wasn't ready to take on. I promised that I'd teach her how to play it at some point,' she finishes.

'Ah, I see,' Dylan says and turns to look at Andrea, 'I didn't know you were into drinking games, Andrea?'

'Well, I wasn't until that point. I didn't realize that there could be skill involved and that is kind of intriguing,' Andrea confesses.

'Okay, party it is,' Steve says rubbing his hands together. 'Where are we doing this?'

'We can do it at the apartment if you guys want. There's plenty of room,' Kelly offers.

'Great, let's plan for Friday night. Rest, relaxation, and watching Andrea get blitzed,' Brandon says with a smile.

'Oh, just for that you have to learn this game with me,' she says back to him.

Dylan sighs quietly.

Brenda begins to pack up her things. 'I have to go, guys, I have to turn in my English final,' she says.

Dylan gets up and walks with her.

'Bren?'

Brenda turns her head and looks at him while they walk. She can tell he's not too thrilled with the group's plans for this Friday.

'Yeah?'

'You're really going to teach them how to play drinking games? How do you know that much without playing yourself?' he asks her with an accusatory tone.

'Dylan, look, I picked up a few things from hanging out with theatre people. I just watch a lot, okay? I think you would have figured it out if I was getting drunk on a regular basis,' she tells him.

Dylan sighs and looks down at his feet. 'I know that. It just seems strange, that's all,' he says. 'I don't know about this party.'

'I made a promise, Dylan. It may not mean that much to you, but it means something to me and it sure means something to Andrea,' Brenda says. 'Not only do I have to go to the party, but I want to go to the party. I need a break and I need to relax just as much as they do. You can do whatever you want.'

They reach the building and Brenda starts to veer off toward the door.

'I'll see you later, okay?' she says and walks away.

Dylan gets in his car and drives back to his house. He puts his books down and starts wandering through his house aimlessly.

'_It's been a long time since I've been faced with a situation like this. I've tried to stay away from any temptation, but I don't know how to avoid this one. If I don't go, Brenda will think it's because of her and this drinking game thing. Damn.'_

Dylan walks to the phone and waits in anticipation for someone to pick up the phone.

'Hello?' a voice says.

'Ben, I need some help with something,' Dylan says desperately.

'Dylan, I'm glad you called. Tell me what's going on?' Ben asks her.

_David's Room_

David sits at his desk trying to study for his final exams. He hears a knock at the door and gets up slowly to answer it.

He sees Brandon and Kelly standing on the other side of the door and steps back to let them in.

'Hey David,' Brandon says, taking a seat on his bed.

'Hi guys,' David says solemnly.

'Listen, we're all going to get together on Friday night and hang out. We thought a relaxing night with the whole gang after finals this week would be nice,' Brandon says.

'That does sound like a blast, but I don't know if I'm up for it,' David says.

'We understand, David, but just please consider it. I know that you don't want to be anywhere near Donna right now, but you deserve a break too,' Kelly says, putting her hand on his shoulder. She notices a prescription bottle sitting on his desk and stares at it.

David follows her gaze once he figures out that she's not looking at him.

'Oh, yeah,' he says slowly. 'Those are just to help me sleep.'

'Where did you get them?' Kelly asks quickly.

David looks back and forth from Kelly to Brandon. 'I know that you guys were really concerned about me and I was actually kind of concerned about myself, so I'm getting some help,' he says.

A small smile comes across Kelly's face as she leans down and hugs him.

'I'm so proud of you, David. Please let me know if I can do something for you,' she says.

David can't help but smile and hugs her back. 'Thanks,' he says.

Brandon watches them hug each other and sees a little relief on Kelly's face as she hugs him.

'Like I said,' David says when they part, 'I'm not sure if I'm ready for a party or anything.'

David looks over at the clock and quickly gets up from his chair. 'Look, I have to go, I have an appointment,' he tells them.

_Casa Walsh_

Brenda drives her car over to her house. Her parents haven't asked her about the car yet. Brenda figures that they are assuming that Dylan is driving her around or that she's getting rides from other people, since she hadn't been asking to borrow one of their cars.

She decides to grab a few more things from her room to bring over to Dylan's and break the news to her mother, at least, about the car.

She walks into her house and goes to the kitchen to see if her mother is there. She sees Cindy at the sink washing a few dishes.

'Hi Mom,' Brenda says.

Cindy turns her head and sees Brenda walking toward her.

'Hi sweetheart, how are finals going?' she asks.

'Not bad, actually. My English final is complete, Dylan and I finished the poetry final last night, and I have a monologue to perform next week for Shakespeare.'

'Wow, almost done, huh?' Cindy asks with a little sadness in her voice. 'What about your acting class?'

'We don't actually have a final for acting. We've been working on techniques and performing in scenes all semester,' she tells her.

'That's great, honey,' Cindy says.

'Listen, Mom, I need to tell you something,' Brenda says.

Cindy shuts the water off and dries her hands on a towel. She turns to face her daughter and leans against the counter.

'You know, Brenda, I am really starting to hate when you say that,' Cindy says, trying to make it a joke.

Brenda smiles at her mother and nods her head. 'I know, I'm sorry, but Dylan surprised me with it and I wanted to tell you about it,' Brenda says, knowing that she was being vague to string this out a little longer.

Cindy feels a knot start to form in her stomach. She tries to be open about what her daughter is about to tell her, but can't help but feel that something bad is coming.

'Since my decision to drop out of school and pursue acting, I guess Dylan was feeling kind of tied down with having to take me everywhere. He got a little frustrated with that, since he had to work around my schedule and he did something,' Brenda pauses, trying to find the right word, 'um, rash.'

Cindy remains quiet trying to figure out what Brenda is about to say.

'He, um, bought me a car,' Brenda says quickly.

Cindy's eyes widen as she stands in disbelief staring at her daughter. Brenda moves to the back door and opens it. Cindy tries to move her body, but it seemed to be frozen to the spot. She finally gets her legs moving and follows Brenda outside to the driveway with a confused look on her face.

She stares at the little blue car sitting in her driveway. She can tell it's not a new car right away and almost sighs loudly, but catches herself.

'Oh my,' she says standing in the driveway.

'He said that he didn't want me to have to depend on anyone else to get around, since my schedule will be unpredictable for a while,' Brenda tries to smooth it over.

Cindy sifts through all of the thoughts in her head trying to find one that may have been appropriate to say out loud at this moment.

She doesn't find one and resigns herself to say, 'Well, wasn't that nice of him?' with a slight tone of annoyance.

Brenda stares at her mother and puts her hand on her shoulder. 'Mom, I know you're not entirely thrilled with this, but were you really going to continue to give up your car for me so that I could get around to auditions and things? I don't want to inconvenience you more than I have already,' Brenda says.

Cindy thinks about it for a moment and tries not to agree with her.

'What about insurance, Brenda? Are you paying for that?' Cindy asks her.

'Of course I am, Mom,' Brenda lies through her teeth. 'It's time I took responsibility for myself.'

Cindy looks at her daughter and Brenda sees her look of annoyance fade slowly, replaced by a look of pride.

'I can't believe those words just came out of your mouth,' she says flatly.

'I know,' Brenda says laughing, 'neither can I, but it's true.'

'Oh, Brenda,' Cindy says, pulling her daughter closer to her, 'as much as I dislike this idea on principle, I can't help but hope that you have actually learned something.'

'You taught me well, I won't forget it, Mom,' Brenda says, trying to give her mother a sense of confidence.

They go back into the house and Cindy sits at the table and sighs.

'Just be glad that your father isn't home right now,' Cindy says quietly.

'Yeah,' Brenda says looking around, 'where is he?'

'He went back to work a few days ago. He's worked it out, so he only has to be in the office a few days a week. He works from here the rest of the time, in the hope that his stress level will stay low,' she tells her.

Brenda nods and starts to worry about her father. 'Is he ready for that?'

Cindy looks up and says, 'I don't know, but I couldn't keep him in the house any longer.'

Brenda smiles knowingly and grabs her bag from the floor. 'I'm going to go up to my room and put this stuff away.'

She climbs the stairs and enters her room. She puts her books down and looks around, trying to figure out what to bring next over to Dylan's house without her mother noticing.

Cindy sits at the table and listens to Brenda moving around her room. She tries to figure out what Brenda is up to, but can't quite put her finger on it.

'_Something strange is going on here, I just know it.'_


	40. Chapter 40

_**The Time of Our Lives – Chapter 40**_

_Dr. Chase's Office_

David walks in to the office and sits down on one of the chairs.

'David,' Dr. Chase says as she comes into the room, 'how are you today?'

'Oh, I'm doing much better after a good night's sleep,' he tells her.

'So, the pills are doing some good then?' she asks.

David nods his head.

'Great, what would you like to start with today?'

'Well, my friends are all getting together on Friday night to celebrate the first week of finals being over, and I kind of want to go. The only problem is that it's at Donna and Kelly's apartment,' he tells her.

'Ah, I see,' she says.

'I used to love parties and hanging out with everyone. I'm not so sure I'd be able to relax enough to have a good time, having to watch Donna and her new boyfriend together,' he says.

'What did you like about previous parties and hanging out?' she asks him.

'I was almost always the DJ. I used to have so much fun playing music for people and watching them get up and dance or bop their heads to the beat,' he says with a smile.

'So, playing music is kind of a release for you,' she says.

'It used to be. I quit my job at the radio station when I realized that I didn't really care about it enough to even put a show together,' he says.

'How long has it been since you've played in front of people?' she asks him.

'Too long, I guess,' he says.

'Well, maybe we should explore that a little further and see if we can figure something out,' she says with a smile.

_Dylan's House – Friday morning_

Brenda sits at the table running over the lines for her monologue for the eighth time since she got up. She puts the paper down and starts walking around the room saying her lines out loud.

She had spent the last few nights at her house instead of his, trying to throw her parents off of the scent that she was trying to hide something from them. She tried to figure out why her father hadn't asked her about the car, since it was parked in front of the house, but hadn't been able to come up with anything.

She left her house early to come over here and surprise Dylan. She had walked into the bedroom to see him completely passed out in his bed. She woke him up by placing little kisses on his chest moving up to his face. They made love to each other and then fallen back to sleep for a few hours.

Dylan gets up and stands in the doorway to his bedroom watching Brenda perform her monologue as she wanders around the living room. He smiles to himself thinking of how she woke him up that morning.

He tries to push out of his head the fact that when she wasn't around over the past few days, he wasn't exactly upset about it.

She finally notices him and stops mid-sentence.

'Good morning,' she says with a smile, 'again.'

'Morning,' he says back, walking to her. 'What's on the agenda for today?' he asks, taking her into his arms.

'Nothing yet,' Brenda says with a smile. She leans up to kiss him and he tightens his grip around her body.

'What are you doing today?' she asks him.

'I have to turn in my final for my English class and then I am done,' he says.

'Done, as in done with everything?' she asks him.

'Yup, done with everything. I have no finals to take next week at all,' he says proudly.

'Oh, well, lucky you,' she says.

'When is your Shakespeare final?'

'Next Tuesday, and then I too will be done,' she says.

'Well, then, looks like we're going to have a lot of time on our hands next week,' Dylan says.

'Ooh, you're right. What ever shall we do with it?' Brenda smiles brightly at him.

'You just leave that to me,' Dylan winks at her as he backs up and heads to the kitchen.

Dylan stands in the kitchen with a glass of water staring at the floor. He could hear that Brenda had gone back to saying her lines out loud.

Dylan couldn't help but feel that if he made plans for them to just get away and reconnect with each other, they would end up getting screwed up somehow. When they had all the time in the world together in London, Italy, and even over the summer, Dylan felt no uneasiness about them at all. Since Brenda started getting involved in school and the play, the residual feelings of resentment never really went away.

'_She'll be out of school soon and that will be one less thing that will be on her plate.'_

Dylan shakes his head and can't seem to figure out why when Brenda is not up to her eyeballs in work they get along, but as soon as her attention moves to something else, they start to fall apart.

Brenda walks into the kitchen and sees Dylan staring at the floor, holding a glass of water, contemplating something.

She looks at his face and recognizes that he's definitely trying to work something out in his head.

'Dylan?' she says softly.

Dylan's head shoots up to meet hers quickly. 'Yeah?'

'Are you alright?' she asks him, taking a few more steps into the kitchen.

'Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I was just trying to figure out next week, that's all,' he says and then smiles.

'Okay, you looked almost frozen to the spot,' she says.

Dylan moves his arms in front of her face to show her he's not made a stone.

'Very funny, now you better move it or you're going to be late to hand in your final,' she says.

Dylan moves past her and turns his head with a smile when she hits him on the ass as he's walking by.

He gets dressed and grabs his books from the table. He gives her a long kiss before moving through the house to the car.

The phone begins to ring as he passes it and he grabs it.

'Yeah?'

'Oh, yeah, hold on a minute,' Dylan says and motions with the phone to Brenda. 'It's the Equity guy, Bren,' he says, leaving the phone on the side table as he leaves.

Brenda gets up quickly from the table and runs to where Dylan left the phone.

'Hello?' she says.

'Brenda, it's Michael over at Equity. How are you today?' he asks her.

'Oh, just fine, Michael, how are you? I wasn't sure if I'd hear from you this week,' she says.

'Well, I was going to call a few days ago, but my phone has been ringing off the hook and I decided it might be better to just hold off and get as many offers as possible,' he says.

'Wow, there's that much interest already?' Brenda asks him, a little shocked.

'You have no idea. Can you come down and sift through these with me today?' he asks her.

'Absolutely, I can be there in a half hour,' she tells him.

'Great, see you then,' he says.

Brenda hangs up the phone and starts jumping up and down. She runs into the bedroom and quickly changes her clothes to something decent.

_The Beach Apartment_

'Donna? Are you coming out any time soon?' Kelly asks at the bathroom door.

'Yeah, give me a minute, okay?' she yells.

Kelly huffs and walks into the kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee. Donna finally comes out of the bathroom and joins her.

'Sorry, Kel, I couldn't get my contacts in,' she says.

'Listen, I just wanted to make sure, again, that you're okay with having everyone over here tonight,' Kelly says.

'Kel, I told you, it's fine. David probably won't even show up, okay?' she says.

Kelly gives her a skeptical look and takes a sip from her cup.

'Really, Kel, I don't have a problem with it,' Donna says, grabbing her bag and leaving the apartment.

Kelly sighs as Donna leaves and grabs her bag.

'This is either going to be fun or a total disaster,' she says out loud before walking out to her car.

_The Campus Café_

Dylan walks in to the café and sees Brandon with his nose in a book sitting at one of the tables.

'Hey B,' Dylan says, 'cramming as usual?'

Brandon lifts his head and smiles at Dylan. 'Of course.'

Brandon closes his book and puts his papers back in his bag.

'So, coming to the party tonight?' Brandon asks him.

Dylan stares at him for a few seconds and then says, 'I don't know, man. It's really not my thing.'

'I know, but why don't you just come for an hour and then take off or something?' Brandon pleads.

'Maybe,' Dylan says. 'Brenda is really excited about the party and I'm worried that if she's teaching Andrea drinking games that she may not be able to drive herself home.'

'Come on, Dylan, you know Brenda well enough. She isn't really into the drinking-until-you-can't-see thing. She has too much respect for you to get wasted,' Brandon says.

'I don't know about that, Brandon. I think she's just scared to drink around me.'

'Well, that's one possibility, but if you really want to know, why don't you ask her?'

Brandon gets the feeling from Dylan that there is something else going on.

'Are you alright, man? You seem a little preoccupied or something?' Brandon asks.

Dylan stares at the table and without looking up says 'It's nothing.'

Brandon can't help but laugh a little at Dylan's response. 'Is she getting on your nerves yet?'

Dylan looks up finally. 'No.'

'You can talk to me, you know? I know how to keep a secret. I would never betray you like that,' Brandon says sincerely.

'I know you wouldn't, Brandon. I'm just trying to work some stuff out, that's all.'

'Are you having doubts about her moving in?'

Dylan gets a knot in his stomach at Brandon's words. 'No, it's not that. I want her to move in with me. I want to be around her. I want to see her curled up on the couch with a book and not have to run out to get home on time,' Dylan says.

Brandon smiles and waits patiently for Dylan to continue.

'I came to a realization today that I haven't been able to shake. Maybe it's just me and my history with people running out on me,' Dylan says, shaking his head.

'You think she's going to leave you?' Brandon asks, a little confused.

'No, but it seems that when she's really busy, I start to resent her for no good reason,' Dylan finally says out loud.

Brandon nods his head. 'I've felt that way too, Dylan. I'm not sure what it is about her, but it seems that things fall apart a little when she's not focused on them.'

Dylan looks into Brandon's face and sees the sincerity.

'It's stupid. It'll pass,' Dylan rationalizes.

'It's not stupid and it won't pass unless something changes. When it happens to me, I know that my first thought is that she's going so fast that she'll leave me behind or something,' Brandon confides.

'Not that I want to be on her coattails or anything, but a little hole opens up and it fills with resentment and a little anger that she's out there doing whatever she wants and living her life and I'm stuck here,' Brandon says.

Dylan listens to Brandon talk and tries to connect what he was feeling to what Brandon was saying.

'I guess it's a little bit of that. She hasn't given me any reason to think that she might leave me behind, but I can't help but think that she really doesn't need me.'

Brandon looks at his friend struggling and a light bulb goes off.

'The car and the house,' he says out loud nodding his head.

Dylan shifts uncomfortably in his seat when he realizes that Brandon has figured it out.

'You bought her the car and gave her the offer to move in to make sure that somehow she'd have to depend on you for something,' Brandon says.

Dylan closes his eyes. 'Does that make me a horrible person, Brandon?' he asks softly.

'Of course not, Dylan. You love her, right?'

'Yes, I do, but I told her that I bought her the car and asked her to move in for a different reason.'

'It'll be alright. You depend on each other for a lot of things, not just transportation and shelter. That's how meaningful relationships work,' Brandon assures him.

'Thanks, Brandon. I have to get going,' Dylan says getting up.

Brandon stands up and puts his hand on Dylan's shoulder. 'Come to the party, it'll be fun,' he says.

Dylan nods slightly and walks away.

Brandon grabs his bag and starts walking to the building his final is being held. He thinks about what Dylan just told him and is amazed with how far the two of them have really come.

_The Beach Apartment_

Kelly moves around the house setting things up for the party. She puts out a stack of cups on the ledge in the kitchen and starts to walk away when she hears the phone ring.

'Hello?'

'Kel, it's David,' he says.

'Hey, David, it's good to hear your voice. What's going on?'

'Look, I changed my mind. I think I'm going to come to the party, on one condition,' he says.

'What's that?'

'You have to let me play,' he says.

'Play?' Kelly asks.

'Let me be in charge of the music,' he says.

'Oh, of course, David, it's all yours,' she tells him.

'Okay, then I'll be there,' he says.

'I'm so glad you decided to come,' Kelly says with a smile. 'We're going to have so much fun.'

'We'll see about that,' he says and hangs up.

_Dylan's house_

Brenda walks into the house with a bag full of clothes. She had gone back to her house and packed up possible outfits for the party that night.

She goes into the bedroom and begins to lay them out on the bed in order to make a decision about what to wear.

Dylan comes in and puts his books on the table.

'Bren?' he says loudly.

'In here,' she yells from the bedroom.

He walks in to see his bed completely covered with clothes and Brenda standing in front of them with her hand up to her chin.

'Whoa, did your closet explode in here?' he asks her.

'I couldn't decide what to wear when I went back to my house so I just packed it all up and brought it over here,' Brenda says, leaning up to kiss him.

Dylan looks at what she has laid out and finds something he hasn't seen before. He walks over to the bed and picks up one of her dresses.

He stares at the black corset dress with a short flowing skirt and then looks back at her.

'I've never seen this one before,' he says.

Brenda smiles at him. 'I know,' she says seductively. 'I was going to save that one.'

Dylan smiles at her and drops the dress on the bed. He takes her in his arms and passionately kisses her.

After a minute, Brenda pulls back a little and starts to laugh. 'And I didn't even have to put it on,' she says.

'Oh, yes, you do. Now you have to wear it so my dreams become a reality,' he says and starts to kiss her again.

Instead of clearing off the bed, Brenda and Dylan slowly walk themselves to the couch while kissing and removing articles of clothing.

_The Beach Apartment_

'Okay, let's get this party started,' Steve says coming through the door. He drags a cooler behind him and puts it in the kitchen.

'There's space in the refrigerator, Steve. You didn't have to bring a cooler,' Kelly says with a smile.

'Sure I did, the other one is out in the car,' he tells her and winks.

Donna starts to laugh as she places a bowl of chips on the table in the living room.

'Well, I guess Steve will be spending the night on our couch,' Kelly says.

Steve comes back in with another cooler, followed by Brandon.

'Kel, where do you want this?' Brandon asks her, showing her a brown paper bag full of alcohol bottles.

'Wow, Brandon, that's a lot of liquor,' she says.

'It's Steve's,' he tells her with a smile.

'Okay, I thought we were just going to do some relaxing and hanging out?' she says.

'We are, Kel, don't worry. I'm much more relaxed with a few beers in me,' Steve says.

Steve goes to the couch with a beer and sits down next to Donna.

'So, where's your man?' he asks her.

'He's working right now, but he'll be along later,' she says.

They hear a knock on the door and Andrea and David walk in.

'Hey everybody,' Andrea says. 'I'm so glad we decided to do this. I have been looking forward to it all week.'

'Well, I suggest you get a beer or a mixed drink and come sit next to me,' Steve says.

David walks into the kitchen to where Kelly is standing.

'Where should I put my stuff?' he asks her.

'Oh, well, I cleared out some room over there by the bookshelf. Is that enough space?' she asks him.

He looks over and nods. 'Hey, Brandon, could you give me a hand for a second?'

'Sure, David,' he says. They walk back outside and Kelly immediately turns to look at Donna.

She is talking with Steve and Andrea and didn't seem to notice that David was around yet.

David and Brandon come back in with his electronic equipment and start setting it up.

'David, it's so great to see you. Are you going to be the DJ tonight?' Andrea asks him.

'Yeah, I figured I'd try to liven this party up a bit,' he says with a smile. Donna looks over at him while he is talking to Andrea and catches him smile.

She hadn't seen him smile in a long time.

_Dylan's House_

Brenda comes out of the bedroom dressed and ready to go to the party. She grabs her purse and walks into the living room.

'Okay, I'm going,' she says to Dylan.

He turns to look at her and almost can't contain himself.

'Damn,' he says staring at her beautiful body.

He gets up and starts to walk toward her. She takes a step back and gives him a warning look.

'It took me a half hour just to get into this dress,' she says.

Dylan smiles at her. 'It'll only take a few seconds to get it off,' he says and starts to laugh.

'I think I'm going to come with you,' he says.

Brenda widens her eyes and can't wipe the look of shock off her face quickly enough.

'I know, I know, I never come to these things, but I talked to Brandon today and he wouldn't take no for an answer,' Dylan tells her.

Brenda smiles with excitement at him. She jumps into his arms and hugs him tightly.

'I'm so glad he was so convincing.'

Dylan lets her go and opens the door for her.


	41. Chapter 41

_**The Time of Our Lives – Chapter 41**_

Brenda and Dylan arrive at Kelly and Donna's apartment. They can hear the music from the street as they walk up to the door.

Dylan grabs Brenda's hand and kisses it.

Brenda smiles and opens the door for them to go inside.

'Hey, look who just walked in, our favorite couple,' David says from across the room.

'I am so glad you're here, we can start now,' Andrea says.

Dylan walks into the kitchen to join Brandon and Steve, as Andrea pulls Brenda into the living room.

'Brenda, you look incredible. I didn't know we were dressing up tonight,' Donna says.

'Thanks, Donna. I was trying to decide what to wear and Dylan pulled this out of the pile. After seeing it, he flat out refused to let me wear anything else,' she says.

'I can see why,' David says to her with a smile.

'Thank you, David,' Brenda says and gives him a hug. 'It's good to see you,' she whispers in his ear.

David smiles at her and moves to change the music.

'I'm going to get something to eat and then we can break out the games, okay?' Brenda says to Andrea.

'Okay!' Andrea says with excitement.

Brenda fills a plate at the table and turns to see Kelly.

'Hey, Kel,' she says.

'Hey, Bren, fashionably late as usual,' Kelly says with a knowing smile.

'Well, you know how it is,' Brenda says. 'What's with Andrea? She's a little overexcited about this, don't you think?'

'Definitely. I'm not sure what has gotten in to her, but since that first cast party, she's been a little obsessed,' Kelly says.

'Well, maybe I can ward her off for a bit,' Brenda says.

'How?'

'By eating very, very slowly,' Brenda says with a smile. She takes a very tiny bite of a carrot stick and chews it as slow as she possibly can.

Kelly laughs at her as Dylan and Brandon join them.

'What is so funny?' Brandon asks, putting his arm around Kelly.

'Nothing,' the girls say at the same time.

'Oh, that's never good,' Dylan says looking from Brenda to Kelly.

Brenda and Kelly start to laugh again.

'If you boys will excuse us, we have some things to discuss,' Kelly says, grabbing Brenda's arm and pulling her outside to the deck.

'What's going on, Kel?' Brenda asks her.

'Bren, I need your help. I want to do something really special for Brandon and I wanted to bounce some ideas off of you,' she says.

Brenda sits down on one of the lounge chairs. 'Okay, hit me,' she says.

Dylan wanders around the party and ends up back in the kitchen with Brandon.

'How are you doing?' Brandon asks him softly.

'Better, I guess,' Dylan says. He takes a bottle of water from the refrigerator and starts to drink it.

'I'm glad you came, Dylan,' Brandon says.

'Yeah, well, if this doesn't get more interesting soon, I'm out of here,' he says.

'Well, let's see if we can facilitate that,' Brandon says with a smile.

He walks into the living room and pulls out a deck of cards.

'Okay, before Brenda comes in, let's wet the whistle a little with some Kings,' Brandon says.

'David, are you in?' Steve asks him.

'Yeah, I'm in,' he says.

Donna, Andrea, Steve, and David sit around the table watching Brandon lay out the cards.

Dylan hangs back in the kitchen and watches them start to play.

'Trust me, Kelly, it'll work like a charm,' Dylan hears Brenda say.

Brenda and Kelly come around the corner. Brenda joins Dylan in the kitchen while Kelly runs to join in on the game.

'And it begins,' Dylan says staring at them.

'Dylan, are you alright?' Brenda asks him.

'Yeah,' he says putting his arm around her waist and pulling her close, 'I'm alright. How about you teach them whatever game you came here to teach them and then we get out of here?'

Brenda smiles. 'I like that plan,' she says, winking at him.

'You could play too you know, you don't have to be drinking alcohol to play,' she says.

'I don't know, Bren,' he says.

'Come on, Dylan, it's fun, just try it,' she says leaving him in the kitchen.

He reluctantly follows her into the next room and sits down on the couch next to her.

He sees Andrea pull a card from the circle and cringe. 'Damn,' she says flipping over the last king.

'Bottoms up, Andrea,' Steve says.

Andrea takes the shot in the middle of the table and winces a little as it goes down her throat.

'Okay, who wants to learn High-Low?' Brenda asks.

They all raise their hands and hand her the deck of cards.

'Okay, Steve, we'll make you go first, since you probably have the highest tolerance of anyone in this room,' Brenda says.

She shuffles the cards and flips the first one over. 'Okay, now the point of this game is to guess whether the next card is higher or lower than the card on the table. After you get three in a row correct, you can continue to guess or pass it to the next person. The cards stack on themselves and if you get it wrong, you have to drink the number of cards on the table,' Brenda explains.

'For example, if there are five cards on the table and you get the sixth one wrong, you drink six swallows of whatever it is you happen to be drinking. Everyone with me so far?' Brenda asks.

'So far? There's more?' Donna asks her.

Brenda raises her eyebrows and smiles.

'Of course there's more. If you call high or low on a card and the same card gets flipped, they split, just like Blackjack. You can now play off of both stacks, but be warned, if you get it wrong you drink all the cards on the table from both stacks,' Brenda says.

'After each wrong answer, the cards are cleared and we start fresh. Aces are low, Kings are high. Any questions?' she asks them.

They all shake their heads and stare wide-eyed at the deck of cards in her hand.

'This doesn't seem like an exciting drinking game,' Donna says.

'Just wait and see, Donna. Okay, Steve, first card is a two,' Brenda says.

After about thirty minutes of playing High-Low, Brenda and Dylan look at each other as they watch their friends almost falling over each other.

'Bren, you were right, this is fun,' Dylan says with a smile. They all turn their heads at the same time when they hear a knock at the door.

Kelly tries to get up and walk to the door, but can't seem to walk a straight line. 'I'm coming,' she yells, 'I think.'

Brenda laughs and gets up off of the couch. She walks past a stumbling Kelly and opens the door to find Jason, Sean, and Lily.

'Hey guys, welcome to the party,' Brenda says.

They walk in and say hi to everyone.

'What's going on, Brenda?' Sean asks her, a little wary.

'Oh, I was just teaching them some drinking games and I think they're all pretty blitzed,' Brenda says.

'Wonderful, then we're just in time,' he says with a smile.

'You're bad,' Brenda says as they join everyone.

'Dylan, will you deal the next few rounds, I'm going to look in on Kelly,' Brenda says.

Kelly had diverted from going to the door to going into the bathroom. Brenda walks in to see her staring at the mirror.

'That game is evil,' Kelly says. 'It looks so innocent, but it's just plain evil.'

'I know,' Brenda says with a smile.

'Why aren't you drinking, Bren?'

'Um, I don't know. I just feel a little uncomfortable, I guess.'

'Because of Dylan?' Kelly asks her.

'Yeah,' Brenda says. 'It just doesn't feel right. I know he that he wasn't too thrilled about coming to the party in the first place, so I don't want to alienate him or anything.'

'I'm sure he'll understand, Bren,' Kelly says.

Brenda looks back out into the hallway when she hears a roar of laughter. 'Let me go see what's going on, are you alright?'

'Yeah, I'm just going to use the bathroom,' Kelly says.

Brenda walks back into the living room and sees Brandon opening a beer and handing it to Steve.

'Tough break there buddy,' Brandon says with a smile.

'Steve just got creamed,' David tells Brenda as she sits back down. 'I think it's time to put this wrath back on the teacher.'

'Yeah, Brenda it's your turn to play this game,' Andrea slurs.

Brenda looks down at the table and casts a sideways glance toward Dylan.

He puts his hand on the small of her back and she turns to look at him.

He gives her a reassuring look and tells Brandon to get her a drink.

'Dylan,' she starts to protest.

'It's okay, Bren, a few drinks aren't going to hurt you,' he says.

Brandon hands her an open beer and Dylan flips the next card. Brenda is almost glad they were playing High-Low, since this was the only drinking game she was halfway decent at playing.

'Okay, so the newcomers and Brenda are playing this round. You guys go take a break,' Dylan says to Andrea, David, Brandon, and Steve.

After a few quick rounds and three beers, Brenda turns to Dylan. 'I'm done,' she says.

'Already?' he asks her.

She leans close to him and kisses his cheek. 'If I have any more to drink you'll have to wait until tomorrow to get this dress off,' she whispers into his ear.

'Yeah, you're done,' he says, grabbing the beer from her hand and putting it down on the table.

Dylan gets up and pulls Brenda up off of the couch.

'Okay, guys, that's enough for us, we're going to take off,' Brenda says.

'Oh, really? Don't you want to stay a little bit longer?' a very drunk Andrea slowly says.

Brenda laughs at her and smiles. 'No, sweetie, I don't want to see what happens next with a houseful of drunk people.'

'Goodnight everyone,' Brenda says, waving as Dylan leads her out the door.

He drives back to his house quickly and almost pulls her arm off getting to the front door.

'Wow, someone's in a hurry,' Brenda laughs.

'I have been waiting for this moment all night,' he says as he shuts the door.

He takes her in his arms and starts kissing her, while unzipping her dress.

Dylan almost pulls back for a second when he tastes the alcohol in her mouth. His mind tells him to stop, but his body pulls her closer. He stuffs his tongue in her mouth to try to soak up whatever beer might be left.

Brenda tries as hard as she can to push him away as he starts to get a little aggressive with her. She finally strong arms him away from her and takes a huge breath of air.

'Damn, what are you trying to do, suffocate me?' Brenda says out of breath. She takes a few steps back from him.

Dylan stares at her with a determined look on his face. He's had a taste of something he craves more than her and he wants it.

'What's your problem, Bren?' Dylan says with anger. 'Don't you want me?'

Brenda notices the glazed look in Dylan's eyes and can't figure out what had changed from a few moments before they walked into the house. He stares almost through her and she sees him clenching and unclenching his fists.

He takes a step toward her and she jumps backwards, bumping into the table in the living room.

'What is it, Bren?' he asks her with a wild look in his eyes. 'You've wanted this all night.'

Brenda hears her heart pounding in her own ears and the fear start to rise in her body. She swallows hard and tries to figure out what to do next. She had never heard him speak to her like this. It was almost as if someone had taken over his body and his mind.

'Dylan, what just happened to you? You're scaring me,' she says.

Dylan doesn't move from where he stopped. His mind races with thoughts, trying to figure out how to calm this situation down to get her to kiss him again.

'Everything's fine, Bren, don't worry about it,' Dylan says softly. 'Come here.'

'No,' she says loudly. 'Something's not right. What the hell is going on with you?'

He lunges for her quickly, trying to catch her off guard, but she manages to get around the table and run for the front door. She grabs her purse from the side table and runs to her car as quickly as she can.

He chases her halfway down the driveway, but she is too far ahead of him and is gone before he could do anything else.

He walks back into the house and grabs his coat. _'One taste? That's all I get, one taste? No, I want more. I want more now!'_

Dylan starts to pace like a wild animal through the house. Any thoughts he had of Brenda have left his head and his only thought was how to get more, taste more to calm the beast inside of him.

He gets an idea, storms out of his house, gets in his car, and drives off.

_The Beach Apartment_

David puts on some funky music and everyone gets up to dance with each other. He watches his friends try to put some moves together, but they are all pretty drunk and can't seem to find the rhythm.

He laughs out loud and Kelly turns her head to see what he's laughing about.

'Are you laughing at us, David?' she asks him with a smile on her face. 'Why don't you come out here and show us how it's done then?'

'Oh, throwing down the gauntlet are you, Kel?' he challenges her.

She beckons him over with her finger and makes room for him next to her. He walks calmly to the center of the circle they formed and looks straight at Donna before he starts to show them his moves.

'Whoa, look at him go,' Sean says to Andrea.

'David is the best dancer I know. I was so upset when I missed his dance off at one of our high school dances,' she says, clapping along with everyone else.

'Alright, David, nice moves,' Brandon says as he watches David do a split and then get back up without hurting himself.

The song draws to a close and David jumps up to change the music.

'Wow, that was incredible. Do you have any moves like that?' Lily asks Steve.

Steve raises his eyebrows at her and smiles.

Kelly turns to Brandon and puts her head on his shoulder. He kisses her forehead and puts his arm around her.

She feels the warmth of his touch and picks her head up to look at him. She smiles at him and turns to the rest of them.

'Okay, guys, the room is starting to spin. I think I need to go to bed,' Kelly says.

'Oh, come on, Kel, it's still early,' Steve whines.

'Steve, it's almost 3 in the morning,' Kelly informs him. 'I'm turning in. Nobody drives home, you hear me?' she warns them.

They all nod feverishly and go back to talking with each other.

Kelly grabs Brandon's hand and leads him to the bedroom.

'Are you feeling alright, Kel?' he asks her once the door is closed.

She puts her arms around him and smiles. 'Yeah, I just wanted to get you alone,' she purrs.

'Oh,' he says with a smile and starts to kiss her.

David looks around the room at Sean and Andrea, Steve and Lily, and Donna and Jason. He shakes his head a little knowing that he can't stay here with them. He was doing really well when everyone was here and just hanging out, but he doesn't think he can stand watching Donna and Jason for another minute.

He shuts down his equipment and packs it up. He puts everything in a pile next to the couch and walks across the room.

'I'm taking off, guys,' he says.

'David, we're not allowed to leave, you heard what Kelly said,' Andrea protests.

'I'm not driving, Andrea, I'm walking,' David says. He takes one last glance at Donna before saying goodnight.

He steps outside and closes his eyes. He enjoys the slight breeze on his face for a few seconds before trekking back to campus.

'_Well, I survived that long without losing it.'_

Andrea and Sean sit on the couch talking to each other. She asks him what it's really like working in theatre and as he's answering her, his eyes start to close. Andrea tries as hard as she can to keep her eyes open too, but at some point during their drunken conversation she falls asleep.

Steve and Lily disappear into the bathroom together, leaving Donna and Jason standing in the kitchen talking to each other.

Jason puts his arms around her and pulls her close. She smiles up at him and he leans down slowly to kiss her.

She enjoys the feeling of his lips on hers and puts her arms around his neck. He leans her up against the wall in the kitchen and continues to kiss her.

He starts to put his hand under her shirt when she pushes him away.

'Jason! What are you doing?' she asks him.

'Just moving things along, what's wrong?' he asks her.

'I thought you understood. I don't want that,' she says pushing past him.

'Donna! What are you talking about? I was just trying to have some fun,' he says.

'Fun? That's not my idea of fun. I thought you were different,' she says. 'You said you understood.'

'I am different. Come over here and see how different,' he says.

'Uh, get away from me,' Donna says loudly. She runs to her bedroom and closes the door.

'Donna?' Jason knocks. 'Come on, Donna, come back out here.'

She doesn't answer him and he slinks down her door to sit on the floor.

_Casa Walsh_

Brenda quietly walks up the stairs to her room. She shuts her door and sits down on her bed.

She tries to figure out what would make Dylan act that like around her. She shakes her head, not able to come up with a reason for it.

'_Something happened. Something changed so quickly and completely and turned him into some sort of lunatic. He's never grabbed me like that. Oh, what do I do?'_

She stands up after a few minutes and looks in the mirror. She sees the back of her dress sticking out and she puts her hand on the zipper, realizing at that moment that she hadn't zipped her dress back up after running out of Dylan's house.

She takes her dress off and puts on a pair of pajamas. She gets into her bed and starts to cry.

She hugs the covers tight to her body and starts to shake uncontrollably.


	42. Chapter 42

_**The Time of Our Lives – Chapter 42**_

_The Beach Apartment_

Kelly gets out of bed and walks with her eyes half closed into the bathroom. She comes out and scans the living room. She opens her eyes as wide as they will go to confirm what she sees.

Andrea and Sean were lying with their arms around each other on the couch. The blanket is pulled up to their necks and she winces, hoping they actually have clothes on.

Steve and Lily are curled up on the floor together and she can clearly see that Steve is not wearing a shirt.

'Oh my,' she says turning around. She sees a figure in lying on the floor in the hallway and turns the light on to find Jason asleep in front of Donna's closed door.

'Oh,' she says again, turning around and around taking in the bodies.

She walks into the kitchen and tries to forget what she just saw. She sees a piece of paper taped to the coffee maker and tears it off.

'Kelly, don't freak out. I didn't drive home, I walked. I'll come by at some point and get my stuff. Thanks for inviting me. David'

Kelly lets out a sigh of relief and prepares a pot of coffee.

Brandon comes wandering into the kitchen and looks at her.

'Did I see what I think I just saw?' he asks her.

'I'm trying not to think about it. I think everyone that was in this house at one point or another last night either had sex or had a fight,' she says.

'Thank God we're on the sex side of that,' he says with a smile.

Kelly smiles and puts her arms around him. She lays her head on his chest as he squeezes her body.

'I can't believe Andrea and that guy, though,' Kelly says, lifting her head. 'Do you really think they, you know, did it?'

Brandon looks back over at Andrea on the couch with Sean. 'I don't know, Kelly, let's just stay out of it.'

Kelly nods her head and they stand in the kitchen together waiting for the coffee to be done.

_Casa Walsh_

Brenda sees the sun rise through her window and decides that now is as good a time as any to get out of bed. She hadn't slept a wink since she got home from the party.

She takes a shower and walks downstairs to get some coffee. She walks into the kitchen and sees her mother jump at the sight of her.

'Brenda! I wasn't expecting you to be here this morning,' Cindy says.

'Sorry to scare you, Mom, I didn't want to stay at Kelly's last night so I thought I'd just come back here,' Brenda says pouring a cup of coffee and joining her mother at the table.

'Oh, right, how was the party?' Cindy asks her.

'It was alright. It was good to finally see David out and about though,' Brenda tells her.

'I thought you'd be staying at Dylan's last night, sweetheart,' her mother says.

'Oh, he left the party early and I didn't want to go over there since it was so late when I got home, so I just came back here,' Brenda lies.

Cindy nods her head and sips her coffee.

_The Beach Apartment_

Kelly and Brandon watch as their friends slowly start to wake up. Andrea is the first to open her eyes.

She stares at the ceiling for a few seconds trying to figure out why there is so much pressure on her chest. She turns her head and gasps out loud when she sees Sean sleeping with his arms around her body.

She shifts her body to get out from under him as her face turns bright red.

Brandon and Kelly watch and try not to laugh out loud when they see her reaction. She gets up without waking him and steps over Steve and Lily on the floor to reach the bathroom.

'Oh my God, did you see her face?' Kelly asks him.

Andrea washes her face and stares at herself in the mirror. She was still wearing all of her clothes, so she was reasonably confident that she didn't do anything with a complete stranger the night before. Her head starts to pulse and she closes her eyes.

She sticks her hand in her pocket to get her watch and feels something else. Her heart stops beating for a few seconds as she wills herself to remove her hand from her pocket.

She lifts her hand out and holds it up as she stares at the condom wrapper in the mirror.

She lets out a little scream and then immediately drops the wrapper and covers her mouth with both of her hands. Her head turns bright red and she feels the fire creeping through her ears and into her cheeks.

She sinks down onto the toilet lid and starts to cry.

Kelly and Brandon watch Sean turn over on the couch and open his eyes when he realizes that Andrea is no longer there.

He sits up quickly and puts his hand to his head to try to ward off the pain. He looks around the room trying to work out in his head if he actually slept with her the night before.

He remembers falling asleep mid-sentence and not much else.

Steve stirs and when he realizes he has someone in his arms opens his eyes to find the back of Lily's head.

She nestles closer to him and he tightens his grip around her body. He relaxes and closes his eyes to enjoy the feeling a little longer.

Andrea picks her head up and washes her face again in the sink. She picks up the wrapper from the floor and throws it in the trash can. She stares down at the can and realizes that there is another wrapper in the trash.

'Holy cow, what the hell happened last night?' she says out loud.

She finally comes out of the bathroom and turns to walk into the kitchen when she catches Sean's eye.

She darts into the kitchen trying to avoid staring at him when she finally notices Kelly and Brandon.

'Andrea, are you alright, you're face is all red,' Brandon says.

Andrea nods quickly and says, 'I'm fine. Thanks for having me over Kelly. I'm going to go now.'

Andrea quickly grabs her shoes and anything else she brought with her and runs out of the apartment.

Kelly and Brandon turn their eyes back on Sean, who they assume has remembered something from last night.

He stares with his mouth open and his eyes wide in the direction Andrea ran in.

'Oh my God, I think they did it,' Kelly says softly to Brandon.

Brandon thinks about the look on Andrea's face and the look on Sean's face and shakes his head.

'Wow, I didn't know Andrea would do something like that,' he says.

'I'm sure she didn't either. Well, she's had her first drunken sexual encounter. Let's hope they did it right,' Kelly says.

Kelly turns when she hears a very loud 'Ouch' coming from the hallway. She turns the corner to see Donna halfway down the hall walking toward the bathroom.

She sees Jason on the floor rubbing his head and staring at Donna as she walks away from him.

'Brandon,' Kelly says, walking back into the kitchen, 'I'm not sure I want to be around for anyone else's regrets this morning. Let's get out of here,' she says quickly.

Brandon nods his head in agreement and they go back to her room to change their clothes.

_Casa Walsh_

Brenda paces in her room trying to figure out what to do. She wanted to practice her monologue again, but all of her books were at Dylan's house. She really didn't want to go back there to get them, in case he was there and still insane.

She decides to drive by the house to see if his car is in the driveway. She gets dressed and does a drive-by of Dylan's house. The car is still there so she continues past it and drives to the campus instead.

Brenda parks the car and goes into the library to find her monologue instead.

_The Peach Pit_

Kelly and Brandon arrive at the Peach Pit for breakfast followed by Steve and Lily. They had taken their mouths off of each other just long enough to say they wanted to come get something to eat.

They all sit down and order and as soon as Nat walks away, Steve starts kissing Lily again.

'I think I'm going to be sick,' Kelly says to Brandon.

'I'm having a strange feeling of déjà vu here, except with the wrong people,' Brandon says.

Kelly smiles and then starts to laugh out loud. 'Yeah, where are Brenda and Dylan?'

'Probably still asleep. Too bad they didn't stay at Kelly's house of sex last night, they could have joined in,' he says.

'Oh, Brandon, that's disgusting. You're talking about your own sister,' Kelly says.

'Uh, you're right. What the hell am I saying,' Brandon says shaking his head.

Steve starts to make noises and Kelly kicks him under the table.

'Steve! Knock it off we are in a public place,' she says.

Steve turns his head to look at her. 'Fine. Nat, we'll take ours to go,' he says loudly over his shoulder before going back to making out with Lily.

_The Campus Library_

Brenda sits at one of the tables reading over her monologue again and again. She gets distracted easily with people moving around, putting books on shelves, and whispering.

She tries as hard as she can to focus on the text in front of her when she hears someone calling her name.

'Brenda?'

Brenda looks around and finally sees Andrea walking toward her.

'Andrea, hi,' Brenda says quickly.

'No offense, but I don't think I've ever seen you in here,' Andrea says.

Brenda laughs and nods her head. 'I avoid it like the plague. What are you doing here? How was the rest of the party?'

Andrea's face starts to get bright red again when Brenda mentions the party.

'Uh, it was fine,' Andrea says quickly. 'What are you reading there?'

'Oh, I'm just brushing up on my monologue for my final in Shakespeare,' she says, hoping Andrea wouldn't ask about Dylan or why she wasn't at his house.

'Well,' Andrea says, seeing a way out, 'I'll let you get back to it. See you later.'

Brenda watches Andrea walk away from her and lets out a breath. Andrea lets out her own sigh of relief that she was able to get out of the situation without telling Brenda anything about last night.

Brenda spends another hour at the library and decides to go home.

She pulls the car up the driveway and walks into the house.

'Brenda?' her father calls her from the living room.

'Yeah?' she answers.

'Donna called looking for you. She said no one picked up at Dylan's house so she'd try here,' Jim tells her.

'Okay, Dad, I'll give her a call,' Brenda says and runs up the stairs to her room before her father could ask her any more questions.

'Something's going on with her,' Jim says to Cindy. 'I haven't seen her this much in a very long time.'

Cindy looks up the staircase and wonders what happened to make Brenda want to spend more time at home.

'Maybe she got into a fight with Dylan or something, you know how they are,' Cindy says.

Jim nods and smiles a little. 'Yeah, maybe she did. Have you ever seen them go any length of time without fighting about something? Is that healthy?'

'Jim, stay out of it, I'm warning you,' Cindy says and goes into the kitchen.

Brenda sits on her bed and dials Donna's number.

'Donna, what's wrong?' she asks when Donna answers.

'Oh, Bren, thank God you called,' Donna says, sniffling.

'Do you need me to come over?'

'I don't want to stay here, do you think Dylan would mind if I came there and hung out with you guys?' Donna asks her.

'Uh, I'm actually at my house tonight. Why don't you come over and we'll have a slumber party,' Brenda says.

'Okay, I'll be right there,' Donna says hanging up the phone.

Brenda starts to feel sad for her friend, recognizing her tone over the phone.

Donna knocks on Brenda's door fifteen minutes later. Brenda had lit some candles and put on soothing music. She brought all of her stuffed animals out of her closet and put them on her bed for Donna.

'Is it a Mr. Pony kind of conversation?' Brenda asks her, holding him up.

Donna nods and lies down on Brenda's bed. She takes Mr. Pony from her and holds him close.

'What happened, Donna?'

Donna recalls her conversation with Jason and tells Brenda what he tried to do in the kitchen.

'Oh, Donna, I'm so sorry. I thought he was a stand up guy,' Brenda says.

'Yeah, me too, especially after telling him what happened with David,' Donna says, 'I thought he really understood.'

'Bren, I'm never going to find someone who wants the same thing that I want. How stupid of me to think that I would,' she says.

'Donna, come on, there are plenty of guys out there who want what you want, they're just too scared to come forward and say it,' Brenda hugs her friend close.

'We'll find him, you'll see,' Brenda says.

Donna closes her eyes and leans in to Brenda's arm.

'I can't believe this is happening to me,' Donna says softly.

Brenda tries to comfort Donna. They start talking about being in London together, which leads to them talking about Paris.

'Bren, I know you already know this, but I felt so horribly bad when I found out about Kelly and Dylan hooking up while we were gone,' Donna says softly.

'I know, Donna. That's all in the past now,' Brenda says.

'Bren, can I ask you something a little personal?'

'Sure, Donna,' Brenda says.

'Well, when I was faced with deciding if I wanted to try again with David, I couldn't really see into the future to figure out what it would be like. What's different this time with you and Dylan that wasn't there the first time around?' Donna asks innocently.

Brenda sighs out loud. She knows that she'll have to tell a few white lies to answer Donna's question since some of the things she thought were different this time, turned out to be the same.

'Well, Donna, we're not in high school anymore, that's a major difference. The things I cared about in high school and the things I care about now are so completely different that it changes the way I live my life,' Brenda begins.

'Dylan and I had a few heart to heart talks while we were traveling before coming back here and one of them was about the fact that this time around the only thing that was going to save us from our previous fate was honesty. If we couldn't actually be honest with each other then we'd be no better off than we were the first time.'

'Has it worked?' Donna asks her.

Brenda thinks about it for a few seconds before answering. 'For the most part, it has. We are much more open with how we are feeling and we definitely talk a lot more now about how our relationship affects the rest of our lives than we ever have.'

'Do you think I'd have a similar experience with David if we got back together?' Donna asks her.

'I don't know, Donna. The only way something like that works is if you sit down and talk to him about how you really feel and what you think you need to overcome that. If you can't think of anything that the two of you can do to overcome your situation, then it wasn't really meant to be solved,' Brenda says softly.

Donna hugs Mr. Pony a little tighter and looks up at Brenda.

'It may not come right away, so don't worry if you don't know what that is right now,' Brenda assures her.

'What if it never comes? What if I can't find a scenario that ends up with us reconciling?'

'Well, that's a hard decision, but it's one you're going to have to make. You don't want to be uncomfortable with the person you may potentially spend the rest of your life with, Donna. There's an answer there somewhere. It might be exactly what you want or not even close, but it's there,' Brenda says.

Donna smiles up at her. 'Okay, Bren, I am done sulking and being depressed. Let's do something fun!'

Brenda smiles back at her friend. 'You got it.'

_Dylan's House – the next day_

Brenda parks the car in the driveway and gets out. She sees Dylan's car still in the same spot it was in yesterday and feels a pang of concern in her chest. She had decided, after talking with Donna, that the only way they were going to figure this out was to talk to each other.

She stood in front of the door and opened it with her key.

'Dylan?' Brenda says loudly. She looks around the living room, the dining room, and the kitchen.

When she doesn't find him, she calls his name again and goes into the bedroom.

She sees that the pile of clothes that was on the bed the night of the party is still there, untouched.

'What the hell?' she says out loud.

She walks back into the living room and sees no sign that Dylan spent the night on the couch.

'Okay, his car is here, but it doesn't look like he's been here since the night I left. Where could he be?'

Brenda stands completely confused with her hands on her hips looking around the house.

The phone rings and scares Brenda so much that she jumps up.

She runs to answer it and is almost disappointed to hear Michael's voice on the other end.

'Hi Brenda, just wanted to call and give you an update on the offers we sifted through the other day,' he says.

'Oh, yeah, okay,' Brenda says, a little distracted.

'So, I set up a few auditions for you this afternoon, since you told me that you didn't have to be in school today. Is that alright?'

'Yeah, that's fine, let me get something to write on,' she says as she looks around for her bag.

She finds a notebook and takes down the information Michael has for her.

'Great, thank you for that,' Brenda says.

'No problem, I'm sure I'll have a few more by the end of the week. Break a leg,' he says and hangs up.

Brenda stares at the piece of paper.

'Just what I needed right now,' she says out loud. She looks around the house one more time, worried about Dylan.

She shakes her head, grabs her bag, and goes back out to the car.

'I can't worry about this right now, I have to prepare for these auditions,' she says, trying to bulk herself up.

She pulls out of the driveway and starts to drive to the first audition.

_Campus_

Andrea walks out of the building after finishing her last final and wipes the sweat from her forehead.

She starts to walk across campus and begins thinking about her night with Sean. Her eyes tear up and she stops to sit on a bench.

She opens her bag and pulls out the information packet she received from the campus doctor about the birth control pills she was prescribed. The doctor had told her that even though she believes she was safe after finding the condom wrapper, she couldn't be too careful.

_Casa Walsh – that night_

Brenda sits on her bed with tears rolling down her face. She had gone to all of the auditions that Michael told her about, but she was so unfocused and distracted while trying to perform that she bombed them all.

Brandon knocks on the open bathroom door and walks into her room.

'Bren, what's the matter? It seems that every time I come in here you're crying,' he says softly, sitting next to her.

'Brandon, I bombed my auditions today,' she says.

'I went back to Dylan's house to talk to him and he wasn't there. His car was still in the driveway, but I couldn't find him anywhere. The bed looked like it hadn't been slept in and there were no signs that he had been there at any point since I left him,' she says, crying a little harder.

'His car was in the driveway? Well, he can't be that far away, Bren. Maybe he went for a walk or something,' Brandon says, not even believing what he was saying himself.

'The phone rang and the guy from Equity told me about these auditions, but I just couldn't concentrate enough to perform well. I'm so worried about him. What if something horrible happened? I'd never forgive myself for leaving him like that if something happened.'

'Bren, we'll find him. It'll be okay,' he says, putting his arm around her.

'I have my Shakespeare final tomorrow. What am I going to do?' she says.

_The Campus Theatre – the next day_

Brenda paces back and forth outside the theatre. She had gotten up early and driven over to Dylan's house to see if he had come back yet. There was still no sign of him and Brenda had not been able to shake the nervous knot in her stomach since she left his house.

She had been trying to walk it off before she had to go into the room and perform her monologue.

She looks at her watch and starts to panic. She runs into the building and stands outside the door waiting for the person that was in there to finish.

The door opens and she walks in as another girl walks out.

'Brenda, it's good to see you. What have you prepared for us today?' her professor asks.

Brenda looks up at her professor and smiles nervously. 'I'll be doing Viola's monologue from 'Twelfth Night',' she says.

'Okay, great. You can begin whenever you're ready,' he says jotting down some information on a sheet of paper.

Brenda begins her monologue and knows right away that it is not coming out right. She suffers through it, says a quick thank you, and runs out of the room.

Brenda leaves campus quickly and goes back over to Dylan's house. She sits on the couch staring at the wall trying to figure out what to do.

She gets up quickly and grabs the phone. She starts calling as many people as she can think of that Dylan may have contacted.

She hangs up after speaking with the hotel that Dylan stays at in Baja, with no luck. The tears start rolling down her cheeks and she holds her stomach. She puts her hand over her mouth and gags a little, trying to calm the uneasiness in her stomach.

She sighs and calls her last resort, hoping to get some clue as to where he might have gone.

'Brenda, it's good to hear from you, is everything alright?' Ben says.

'Ben, I'm really worried about Dylan. He's been missing for four days and no one has seen or heard from him,' Brenda cries.

'He's been missing? How is that possible I just talked to him on Friday night,' Ben says.

Brenda gasps out loud. 'You talked to him? What happened? Where was he when you talked to him? What did he say?'

'He said that he was having a few strong urges to drink and that he needed some help. I talked to him for a little while and calmed him down. I wasn't aware that he disappeared though. When I got off of the phone with him, he was calm and seemingly alright,' Ben explains.

'Well, I guess he wasn't alright because he's definitely gone,' Brenda says.

'Let me make some phone calls and I'll let you know if I dig anything up, okay?' he says.

Brenda starts to cry again. 'Okay,' she says.

She hangs up the phone and starts to pace the length of the house thinking about what Ben said.

She stops in the middle of the house with her mouth open.

'Oh my God,' she says out loud. She runs to the phone and calls Brandon.

'Bren? How was your final?' he asks her.

'Terrible, listen, Brandon, I just talked to Ben, Dylan's sponsor and I think I know what happened,' Brenda says quickly.

'What?'

'I had alcohol on my breath from the party. He started freaking out on me when we started kissing,' Brenda tells him.

'Would that be enough to set him off? I mean, you stopped drinking a little while before you guys left,' Brandon says.

'It's the only explanation. He turned into something I had never seen before. I've only heard him describe what a drop of alcohol in his system feels like and I think I witnessed it first hand that night. He called Ben to tell him that he was having urges, that has to be it,' Brenda says.

'Brandon, what have I done? How stupid of me!' she says.

'Bren, that's not entirely your fault you know, you can't blame yourself for Dylan's behavior,' Brandon says.

'Ben is going to call some people and see if he can figure out where Dylan went. I'm going to stay here for a while in case he comes back,' she tells him.

'Okay, Bren, call me right away if something happens, okay?'

'Okay, bye,' she says and hangs up the phone.

Brenda sits on the couch and waits. She's not sure what to do with herself so she just stares at the wall again.


	43. Chapter 43

_**The Time of Our Lives – Chapter 43**_

_The Campus Café_

Brandon sits at one of the tables studying for his last final. He is so involved with his books that he doesn't notice when Kelly walks up and sits down.

She clears her throat to alert him and his head shoots up quickly.

'Oh, sorry, Kel,' he says.

'It's okay. How's the studying going?'

'Alright, I guess. I either know it or I don't at this point, right?' he says with a smile.

'I've missed you Brandon,' she says.

'I know, I've missed you too. It's been a very busy couple of days,' he says.

'How's Brenda?' she asks softly.

'She's,' Brandon pauses for a few seconds, 'kind of depressed, actually. She said she didn't do well on her auditions or on her Shakespeare final, so I think she's a little mad at herself.'

'Oh, that's too bad. I wonder what happened,' Kelly says.

Brandon shrugs and looks back down at his book.

'So, what's the plan for after finals?' Kelly asks him.

'Um, I don't know, go back to work while we're on break, I guess,' he says.

'Do you think, maybe, you could hold off on that for a little while?' she asks and gives him a bright smile.

'What did you have in mind?' Brandon asks her.

'Well, I figured after all of this craziness at the end of the semester that we could use a break,' she starts to say.

Brandon perks up a little and closes his book.

'Maybe a week in Palm Springs?' she suggests.

'Ooh, you may be onto something. That sounds amazing,' he says and leans in to kiss her.

'I'm so glad you like the idea. Do you think you could tear yourself away from all of this?' she asks him.

'Definitely, a week in Palm Springs with you? Sign me up,' he says.

'Great! I'm going to make the arrangements. When do you want to leave?' she asks.

'Whenever you are ready. This is my last final,' he tells her.

'How about sometime next week? That way we'll have a little time to plan what we want to do and where we want to do it,' she says.

'My bags are packed already,' he says.

She stands up and moves toward him. He puts his arm around her waist and sits her on his lap. He starts to kiss her as she wraps her arms around his neck.

_Dylan's House_

Brenda had been awake for most of the night. She was scared to leave the house in case Dylan came back.

She made herself a pot of coffee and was just taking her first sip when the phone rang. She quickly puts her cup down and runs to answer it.

'Brenda, it's Michael,' the voice says.

'Oh, hi,' she says disappointed.

'Listen, I just talked to a few people and they said your auditions were,' he says and then pauses, 'well, they weren't up to par.'

Brenda's shoulders drop a little when she hears what he said.

'Yeah, I don't know what happened. I guess I was a little distracted,' she says.

'Look, you've got to shape up here and get over whatever is distracting you. I've got three more auditions for you tomorrow, but I'll cancel them if you're not on your game,' he says.

'No, no, don't cancel. I promise I won't let you down,' she says quickly.

'Okay, let me get you the information,' he says.

Brenda takes down the information for the next set of auditions. She gets off of the phone with Michael and breaks down.

She screams out loud when the phone starts to ring again ten minutes later.

'Hello?' she says angrily.

'Is this Ms. Brenda Walsh?' a stern voice says.

'Yes, who is this?' she asks, a little scared.

'My name is Sergeant Tate and I'm with the Los Angeles police department. We received your name from Dylan McKay,' he tells her.

'Oh my God, what happened?' she says quickly.

'He was arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct on Saturday night. I need you to come down here and pick him up immediately,' he says.

'Okay, I'll be right there,' she says.

Brenda hurries to get dressed and leaves the house as quickly as she can. She doesn't have time to even think about anything that had happened, since she was trying very hard to concentrate on the road in front of her.

She enters the police station and tells the person at the desk that she is here to pick up Dylan.

They ask her to wait so that they can finish up some paperwork before they bring him out.

Brenda sits nervously, wringing her hands, waiting for Dylan.

The door opens and she finally sees him walking with a police officer.

'Now, get out of here, I don't want to see you back here again,' the officer says.

Brenda sees Dylan nod his head as he walks toward her. He finally lifts his head to look at her and her heart breaks in two.

She slowly gets up from her seat and grabs his arm to steady him. His eyes were sunken into his head, his hair was a mess, and she couldn't imagine at this point how his clothes got so dirty.

She notices that he was wearing the same clothes he wore to the party last Friday night.

They walk out together and she puts him in the car. She drives in silence back to his house, not knowing if her voice would even work.

Dylan walks into his house, looks at his clothes, looks back up at Brenda, and sighs.

'I'm going to take a shower,' he says and slowly walks to the bathroom.

She stands in the middle of the living room trying to figure out what to do. She almost has to will herself to move one leg at a time.

She reaches the phone and dials Ben's number.

'Brenda, it's good to hear from you. I haven't yet turned anything up on Dylan,' he starts to say.

'I found him, Ben. The LA police called this morning for me to come and get him,' she says softly with sadness in her voice.

'What happened?'

'I'm not sure, but he was arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct. He hasn't said anything since we got back. I think you should come over here,' she says.

'I'm on my way,' he says and hangs up the phone.

Brenda goes back to sitting on the couch and staring at the wall. She hears the faint sound of the shower and starts to cry. She tries to calm herself down, but has a hard time stopping her thoughts from racing through her head.

Dylan gets out of the shower and puts on a clean pair of clothes. He stares at the bedroom door, knowing that there was probably a very pissed off Brenda on the other side. He lets out a deep breath and walks into the living room.

Brenda was sitting on the couch and just as Dylan approached, they heard a knock on the door.

He moves to answer it and sees Ben on the other side. Dylan closes his eyes, drops his head, and takes a step back.

Ben comes in and stands in front of Dylan.

Dylan opens his eyes after a few seconds and turns his head to look at Brenda.

She stares, with an angry face, back at him. She slowly gets up, grabs her purse, and walks out the front door.

Dylan watches as the front door closes behind her. 'That's about right, don't you think?' he says to Ben.

'She was so worried about you, Dylan. I couldn't even believe the panic in her voice when she called me yesterday,' he says.

Dylan feels a pang in his chest and slowly walks to the couch and sits down.

_The Peach Pit_

'Do you really have to go back?' Steve whines.

'Our work visa ends next week,' Lily tells him. 'Don't be sad, Steve, we still have a little while.'

'Well, we better make good use of that, huh?' he says and starts to kiss her.

'Don't you two ever stop? I mean, you have to breathe at some point?' Sean says as he walks up to them with Jason in tow.

'Looks like it's time to say goodbye,' Jason says and sits down with them.

'Doesn't it feel like we just got here?' Lily says to them.

'Not really, Lily, you've just got stars in your eyes,' Sean says with a laugh. 'I'm ready to go back.'

'Yeah, me too,' Jason says.

'Well, you can't go back without a traditional goodbye party,' Steve says. 'I'll set everything up, how about Saturday night?'

'I don't know about that, Steve. I don't think anyone else wants us around anymore,' Jason says.

'Yeah, and after what happened at the last party, I'm not sure I'm up for another one,' Sean chimes in.

'What do you mean, we all had a great time at the last party,' Steve says, pulling Lily closer to him.

'Speak for yourself,' Jason says.

'Alright, we'll have it here, then, no drinking, okay?' Steve says.

After a few seconds of no responses from either Jason or Sean, Steve decides for them.

'Hey, Nat, can we have a goodbye party for these guys here on Saturday?' Steve says loudly.

'Sure, why not,' Nat says from behind the counter.

'There, it's settled.'

_Casa Walsh_

Brenda goes up to her room after coming back from Dylan's house. She paces in her room trying to figure out how to let go of this anger so that she could focus on doing well on her auditions.

'Brenda, telephone for you,' Cindy yells up the stairs.

Brenda picks up the phone and is shocked to hear her Shakespeare professor's voice on the other end.

'Brenda, is everything alright? I'm a little concerned since your performance yesterday was not even close to the level I know that you can perform, he says.

'I've just been a little distracted,' she tells him. 'There's a lot going on right now and I just couldn't focus.'

'I know you can do better than what I saw. I want to give you another chance to do it better,' he says.

'Really? That would be so incredibly generous of you to let me do it again,' she says quickly.

'I've seen you perform, Brenda. I want you to do well and I know that there's more you can show me than what came out during your final,' he says.

'Can you come in and see me tomorrow morning?' he asks her.

'Yes, absolutely, thank you so much. I really appreciate your concern and I promise to blow you away,' she says gratefully.

'Good, I'll see you then,' he says.

Brenda hangs up the phone and starts jumping up and down. 'Yes!' she says loudly.

Cindy stands in the doorway to her daughter's room watching her.

'Honey, are you alright?' Cindy asks with a smile.

'That was my professor, he's going to let me redo my final for Shakespeare class because I screwed it up so bad the first time,' Brenda tells her.

'Oh, that's wonderful. I'm so happy for you,' Cindy says.

'Okay, I need a new monologue. The one I picked before is not working for me,' Brenda says and picks up her Shakespeare book.

Cindy goes back downstairs as Brenda flips through her book searching for a new monologue.

'_Angrier, it has to be angrier. Maybe if I use the emotions I'm already feeling it will be easier for me to stay focused.'_

She flips the page and stares down at the perfect passage and starts to run through the lines.

Brandon comes home a few hours later to find Brenda pacing back in forth in her room talking to herself.

'Bren?' he says as he pokes his head into her room.

Brenda stops moving and turns around to see Brandon standing in the doorway to the bathroom.

'What are you doing?'

'My professor called and he's giving me another chance at my final monologue, so I'm just practicing the new one I picked,' she says.

'Wow, what a guy,' Brandon says.

'Brandon, I found Dylan,' she tells him.

'What? Where?' he asks moving into her room and sitting on her bed.

'I was at the house and the phone rang. When I picked it up it was a cop from the L.A. police department. Dylan has been in jail since late Saturday night. He was arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct. He gave them my name and they called for me to come and pick him up,' she says sitting next to him.

'Oh my God, is he alright?'

'I don't know,' she says as a tear rolls down her face, 'when I saw him come out of the door with the police officer, it was like the bottom dropped out and I felt like I was falling. He looks horrible and he was just covered in dirt from head to toe,' she tells him.

Brandon takes her hand while she talks and tries to calm her down.

'I drove him back to the house and he went to take a shower. That's when I called Ben. As soon as Ben showed up, I left,' she says.

'Oh, Bren,' Brandon says, 'I'm so sorry.'

'I don't know what happened, but I was so relieved to see him in one piece, then it hit me,' she says.

'What hit you?'

'The anger, like a ton of bricks. I can't stop myself from being so angry with him. I was so worried and scared for so long, that all of that just rolled itself up into one big ball of anger. I am so mad at him right now I just want to scream,' she says loudly.

'I can understand why you'd be angry with him, Bren, it'll pass. Yelling at him right now is probably one of the worst things you could do,' Brandon tells her.

'I know it is, that's why I left as soon as Ben showed up,' she says.

Brandon looks at her and starts rubbing her arm with his hand.

'Listen, Bren, Kelly wants to go away next week for a whole week, but I don't think I could leave you like this. I'm worried about you,' he says.

'Oh, Brandon, don't ruin your time away for me. I'll be fine, I'm the only one who can deal with this right now. Trust me, I'll be alright,' she assures him.

Brandon gives her a skeptical look.

'I'm glad she finally decided,' Brenda says with a smile.

'What are you talking about?' he asks her.

'She wanted to do something special for the two of you. You guys need some time away from all of this. It'll do you some good,' she says.

'Thanks for looking out for me,' he says with a little bit of sarcasm.

Brenda just smiles and picks up her paper with the monologue on it.

'Now, get out of here, I have to concentrate,' she says back.

Brandon smiles at her and gets up to leave her room.

'Brandon?' she says as he reaches the bathroom door, 'thank you.'

He just nods in her direction and goes back to his room.

_The Beach Apartment_

Kelly sits on the couch with Donna waiting for her to respond to the idea of the goodbye party for Jason, Sean, and Lily. Steve had called her and told her that everyone had to come because they were a little wary that nobody wanted them around anymore.

'Donna?' Kelly says after a minute had gone by.

'As much as I don't want to see him right now, I guess it would be really rude not to at least say goodbye. I never have to see him again after that, right?' she says.

'Right,' Kelly says to her. 'There's something else I wanted to tell you too.'

Donna looks at Kelly and sighs.

'Brandon and I are taking a little break and going away for a week,' she says.

'Really? Where are you going?'

'Palm Springs. We need a little time to ourselves. After this crazy semester, I think it would really be a good thing for us to just get away,' she says.

'That's probably a good plan,' Donna says. 'Is there a hole I can crawl into while you're gone?'

'Come on, Donna,' Kelly starts to say.

'I'm just kidding, I'll be alright, Kelly. I'm just a little frustrated with the fact that I can't find anyone who wants the same things that I want. I took out a lot of that frustration on him, but he didn't deserve all of it,' Donna tells her.

'Wow, someone's been doing a lot of thinking,' Kelly says, amazed at Donna's realization.

'I've been talking to Brenda,' Donna admits. 'She's never been more supportive of me and trying to help me figure these things out.'

Kelly feels a pang of jealousy in her chest. She just nods her head and smiles weakly.

_The Campus Theatre – the next morning_

Brenda confidently walks into the theatre to meet with her professor. She had gone over her monologue hundreds of time the night before and felt that she was completely ready.

'Brenda, thanks for coming back in,' her professor says.

'Thank you so much for letting me do this again. I've changed my monologue to something different. I just didn't feel that Viola's speech fit with me,' she tells him.

'Actually I kind of have to agree with you on that. Which one did you choose?'

'Queen Margaret from 'Richard III',' Brenda says.

'Ah, yes, beautiful speech. Whenever you're ready,' he says.

Brenda spends a moment to get into her character and starts.

After she finishes, her professor looks up from his papers and smiles.

'Now, that is what I was talking about,' he says to her.

Brenda smiles back at him. 'Well, I promised to blow you away, did it work?'

'Absolutely, I'm so very proud and pleased with your performance today,' he says.

'Thank you again for giving me another chance,' she says, picking up her things.

'Thank you for being the actress I know you can be,' he says.

She shakes his hand and leaves the room. She can't stop smiling as she walks out of the building.

She gets into the car and starts to drive. 'One down, three more auditions to go,' she says confidently.

_The Dormitory_

David comes back to his room after a session with Dr. Chase. He had told her about the party and how he handled everything and she said that she was happy with his progress.

He puts his books down and notices something large, wrapped in brown paper, with a bow and a note on his bed.

He pulls the note off and opens it.

'Thought you might need this. Love, Jackie'

David rips off the paper and sees one of his favorite keyboards sitting on his bed. He had completely forgotten that he left it with Jackie until that very moment.

He stares at it with excitement for a moment and then confusion. 'Wait, how did Jackie know?'

He figured that his Dad or Kelly must have told her. He picks up the phone and calls her.

'Jackie, thank you for the keyboard. I had forgotten about it,' David tells her when she answers the phone.

'I hope you're not upset, David. Your father told me what happened and he said that you decided to get back into music. I thought you could use your old keyboard,' she tells him.

'No, no, of course I'm not upset. I appreciate it, thank you,' he says.

'Please let me know if you need anything, David. Just because your father and I are no longer together doesn't mean that I don't care about you. If there is anything I can help you with, please call me, okay?' she says.

David smiles and says, 'Okay.'

He sets up his keyboard and starts to play. He is amazed at how quickly his fingers move across the board, since it has been so long since he actually played.

_Casa Walsh_

Brenda gets home from her auditions and almost skips into the house. Cindy watches her jump around and laughs out loud.

'Having a good day, dear?'

'Oh, Mom, I aced my final, I aced my auditions, and I couldn't feel more like myself than I do right now,' Brenda says with a smile on her face.

She hugs her mother and runs up the stairs.

'Wow, I haven't seen her that happy in a while,' Cindy says out loud.

Brenda puts her books away and stares at herself in the mirror. _'Well, at least this part of my life is back to normal.'_

_Dylan's House_

Brandon knocks on Dylan's door hoping that he wouldn't turn him away.

Dylan slowly opens the door and nods when he sees Brandon standing there.

'Come on in,' he says. 'I was kind of hoping that you'd be Brenda.'

'Yeah, sorry I couldn't be more accommodating,' Brandon says and sits down on the couch with Dylan.

'Are you alright, man? Brenda told me what happened,' he says.

'I figured,' Dylan sighs. 'Well, I survived a few nights in jail and lost the most important person in my life. So, yeah, I'm just dandy.'

'You haven't lost her yet, Dylan, but I would say that you're on a very thin wire,' Brandon says.

'I know I was stupid, Brandon. I know exactly what came over me and that I didn't handle it like I should have, but I can't change what happened or what I did,' Dylan says, sadly.

'I know you can't, but also you can't sit here and think that it's going to fix itself,' Brandon tells him.

'I just haven't figured out what to say to her yet. I've been thinking about it since I got back and I just haven't found the right words yet,' Dylan says.

Brandon puts his hand on Dylan's shoulder. 'You'll come up with something, just tell her the truth. That's really all you have. You guys are strong, you'll figure out a way to work through this,' Brandon assures him.

'Man, I hope you're right. I know she's mad, I just don't know how to make it up to her.'

'Listen, I talked to Steve and he's throwing a goodbye party for Jason, Sean, and Lily at the Peach Pit on Saturday. I'm sure she'll be there if you don't see her before then,' Brandon says.

Dylan nods his head and looks down at the floor.


	44. Chapter 44

_**The Time of Our Lives – Chapter 44**_

_Casa Walsh – Saturday morning_

'Brenda, telephone for you, it's Ben,' Cindy yells up the steps.

Brenda moves to pick up the phone.

'Brenda, how are you doing?' Ben asks her.

'Um, just okay, I guess,' she says.

'Listen, I just wanted to let you know that I've spend most of the last two days with Dylan. He's definitely making progress and understands what happened to him that night of the party. I know that this has been a struggle for you, but I just wanted to let you know that he's doing much better,' Ben says.

'Thank you for telling me that, Ben. I'm glad he has you to talk to about this. Has he said anything about going back to A.A during the week?' Brenda asks him.

'I told him that he should for a while. I know that he had dropped down to Sunday mornings only, but I think he'll start going several times a week now,' Ben says.

'Thanks again for helping, Ben, and for calling,' Brenda says.

'It's no problem, feel free to give me a call any time,' he says and hangs up.

Brandon comes through the bathroom into her room as he hears her hang up the phone.

'Who was that?' he asks her.

'It was Ben. He was telling me that he had spent the better part of the last few days with Dylan talking this whole thing out. He just wanted to let me know how Dylan was progressing with dealing with this whole thing,' Brenda says.

'So, are you going to come say goodbye to your friends from London this afternoon?' Brandon asks her. He had asked her the day before, but she wasn't quite sure about it.

'I think I am, Brandon. I can put this aside to say goodbye,' she says.

'Good, I'm glad. It's time you got out of this house and had a little fun,' Brandon says.

'I don't know about fun, Brandon, it'll be something,' she says sadly.

_The Peach Pit_

Steve, Kelly, Andrea, and Donna start putting up decorations at the Peach Pit for the party.

'How does this look?' Andrea asks about the sign she just hung.

'Bon Voyage? They're not taking a cruise or something, Andrea,' Steve says.

'Yeah, well, it was the only one they had that fit the theme. I'm pretty sure 'Happy 75th Birthday' would have been worse,' Andrea says.

Donna starts to laugh and Andrea joins in.

'Nothing like saying goodbye at the Peach Pit,' Kelly says looking around. 'Remember when we had that party for the Walsh family when they were going to move back to Minnesota?'

'Yeah, I was so entirely pissed off that we were going to lose them after only knowing them a short time,' Steve says.

'Think of how our lives would have been different if they didn't stay?' Donna says.

They all look in different directions thinking about the impact Brandon and Brenda had made on their lives.

'What is going on here?' Nat says, watching them stand still and stare at walls.

'Oh, hey, Nat, we were just thinking about how different things would have been if Brandon and Brenda had moved back to Minnesota all those years ago,' Steve says.

'Ah, but isn't this party for a few people from across the pond?' Nat asks him with confusion.

Steve smiles and nods his head. 'Yeah, but we were just talking about how there was nothing like a good Peach Pit goodbye party,' he says.

'Well, you better get moving, or you're not going to be done in time,' Nat says looking around the restaurant.

'Right, back to work, guys,' Steve says as he helps Kelly put up a few more streamers.

'I'm going to start blowing up the balloons,' Donna says.

'Let me help you with that, Donna,' Nat says. He turns on the helium tank they had gotten from the party store and blows up the first balloon.

Brandon and Brenda show up at the Peach Pit about an hour before the party.

The gang turns immediately and looks at them with strange faces.

'Uh, what's going on guys?' Brandon asks warily.

Steve walks up to both of them, puts his arms around them and hugs them tightly.

'Whoa, Steve, what was that all about?' Brenda asks when he finally lets them go.

'I'll explain it to you later, Donna says with a smile.

Andrea watches Brandon and Brenda move around the room helping put up a few more decorations and setting out the plates and cups.

She catches Brenda's eye for a second and motions for her to come over.

'What's up Andrea?' Brenda asks her.

Andrea looks around to see if anyone was close to them.

'Um, can I talk to you about something? I really wasn't sure who to talk to, but I think out of all the women in this room, you are the only one I really trust,' Andrea says.

'Oh, sure, Andrea,' Brenda says with concern.

Andrea leads Brenda through the restaurant and out the back door.

Brenda puts her hand on Andrea's shoulder and asks, 'What's going on?'

'I'm having a problem that I can't seem to work through and I thought that maybe you could help me,' she says. Brenda nods her head and waits for her to continue.

'Well, remember the night of the party at Kelly and Donna's?' Andrea starts. Brenda's mind flashes back to Dylan and she wills herself to focus on what Andrea is tell her.

'I fell asleep on the couch and I woke up the next morning wrapped in Sean's arms,' she says.

'Whoa,' Brenda says out loud.

'I got up to go to the bathroom and I found something in my pocket that made my heart stop beating,' Andrea continues.

'What was it?' Brenda asks with confusion.

'A condom wrapper.'

'Oh my God, Andrea, did you sleep with him?'

'I couldn't really remember at the time, but it all came back to me a few days later. I woke up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water because my throat was dry. I was on one end of the couch and he was on the other. When I got to the couch to lie back down, he had stretched out and there was no where for me to go,' Andrea explains.

Brenda nods her head and let's her continue.

'So, I woke him up and asked him to move a little so that I could lie back down. He stood up from the couch and told me that I could have the whole thing if I wanted it. I looked up into his eyes and he was standing so close to me that I could feel him breathing,' Andrea says.

'Oh, I've been there,' Brenda says. 'So, you couldn't help yourself, but kiss him, right?'

Andrea swallows hard and looks back up at Brenda. 'Yeah, I guess that was it. Once I kissed him, there was no turning back.'

'Okay, so you had a one night stand, and you were obviously careful about it, right?'

'Yeah, but I can't help but regret every minute of it. I never wanted a one night stand with somebody. I feel dirty and wrong and I can't stop thinking about what an idiot I am.'

'Andrea, come on, it may not have been something you ever thought you'd do, but you did. Sean is going back to London tomorrow. I know you feel bad about it right now, but you did nothing wrong. It's natural to be a little drunk and want to get your needs met. It's not always a good idea, and some people definitely wouldn't have been as careful as you were, but there's nothing for you to worry about,' Brenda says.

'I guess I'm just really mad at myself,' Andrea says.

'There's no stress in the world bigger and heavier than being mad at yourself, Andrea. Trust me, I know. There has to be a way for you to work through this and make it alright in your own head. Until you do that, it will haunt you until you do,' Brenda says.

'Yeah, I guess you're right,' Andrea says.

'It'll work itself out, don't you worry,' Brenda says and gives her a hug.

'Thanks, Bren, I think that helped,' Andrea says.

'Good, now, let's go in and have a party,' Brenda says.

Andrea and Brenda walk back in to the diner together.

'Where have you two been? We finished without you,' Steve says.

'That was the idea, Steve,' Brenda says, flashing him a smile.

The door opens and David walks in with his keyboard and stand.

'Anyone call for a music man?' he says.

'Oh, David, awesome, glad you're here,' Steve says.

David shakes hands with Steve and they go off to set up his equipment.

Brenda moves to where Donna is sitting down. 'What's going on with everyone, Donna? Why are you guys looking at us weird?'

'Oh, Bren, we were just reminiscing about all of the parties we had here at the Peach Pit and for some reason we got stuck on the goodbye party we had for you guys when you thought you'd have to move back to Minnesota,' Donna tells her.

Brenda thinks back to that time and smiles. 'Yeah, that was rough,' she says.

'I was just thinking about how different it would be if you hadn't been here for the last few years. So many things would not have happened,' Donna says.

'Well, Donna, that's true, but maybe it would have been better in some ways if those things didn't happen,' Brenda tells her.

'We can't change what happened back then, Brenda, and I'm so glad you guys didn't leave. I wouldn't change it for the world,' she says.

'Thanks Donna, that really means a lot to me,' she says and puts her arm around Donna.

'Bren, can I ask you something?'

'Sure, what is it?'

'You've been kind of acting a little strange since the party, are you alright?'

'At this moment, I am feeling good,' Brenda says, trying to avoid having an uncomfortable conversation.

'At this moment?'

'Can we talk about this another time? I just don't want to go into it right now,' Brenda says as Jason, Sean, and Lily come through the door.

David starts to play 'God Save the Queen' when he sees them and everyone starts to laugh.

Brenda sits in the corner while the rest of her friends mingle with each other, dance, and laugh.

She thinks about Dylan and tries to work through what she was going to do about him.

Andrea stands on the other side of the room talking with Donna when she notices the sad look on Brenda's face and the fact that she's being incredibly anti-social.

'What's going on with Brenda?' Andrea asks Donna. Donna turns to see the look on Brenda's face.

'I don't know, she wouldn't say, but something is definitely going on. I've never seen her act this way at a party,' Donna says.

They both shrug and stare over in Brenda's direction and try to figure out what could be wrong with her.

The door opens to the diner and everyone turns to see Dylan standing in the doorway. Donna and Andrea look right at Brenda and see panic on her face.

The panic turns quickly to anger as she stares him down. Dylan watches the emotions play across her face and feels the knot in his stomach get tighter. With tears in his eyes, he takes a few steps toward her and stops.

Dylan looks at her completely ashamed of himself as he puts his hands into his pockets. He doesn't even notice anyone else in the room.

Everyone freezes and stares at the scene unfolding in front of them. No one moves an inch as they see Dylan standing in front of Brenda about to cry.

Brandon watches them react to each other and prays that they don't embarrass themselves in front of their friends, who don't happen to know anything that had transpired over the last few days.

'I'm sorry, Bren,' Dylan's voice cracks and a tear makes it way down his cheek and lands on his shirt. 'I'm so sorry.'

Kelly subconsciously gasps out loud at hearing Dylan crying and apologizing to Brenda in public.

Brandon can see the physical strength Brenda is using to keep herself together. She slowly stands up from where she is seated. She keeps her mouth tightly clenched shut as she takes one step at a time toward him.

She walks past where he is standing and grabs his arm on the way out of the diner, dragging him behind her.

Everyone waits a few seconds after they leave to move. They run to the windows immediately and watch Dylan and Brenda talking in front of the diner.

Brenda animatedly moves her arms as she yells at him while Dylan hangs his head and stares at the ground.

'What the hell is going on with them?' Kelly says out loud.

Brandon sighs and takes a step back from where his friends had gathered to watch Brenda and Dylan fight with each other.

'Let's just leave them alone, okay?' Brandon says and starts to walk to the other side of the diner.

'Brandon, do you know something?' Kelly asks him.

'It's none of our business, that's what I know,' Brandon says firmly.

As they have their heads turned toward Brandon, the group jumps when they hear the door slam open.

Brenda comes back and without saying a word to anyone grabs her things and walks back outside.

The entire group turns their heads back to the windows to see what was going on.

They see Dylan get into his car and Brenda get into her car. Dylan leaves first with Brenda following him.

'Did anyone know, besides Brandon, that they were fighting or something?' Donna asks.

'I had no idea. Usually, we can tell when something like that is going on,' Kelly says.

'I'm sure we'll find out soon enough, let's just enjoy the party,' Andrea says walking to stand near Brandon.

As the crowd thins around the window, Jason hangs back and waits for Donna to move. She turns to see him and looks down at the floor immediately.

'Donna, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about the other night. I had a little too much to drink and I just acted really stupid,' he says to her.

'Yeah, you did,' Donna agrees.

'I didn't mean to hurt you or make you angry with me. Maybe you were right in the beginning, that we're just better off as friends,' he says.

Donna lifts her head and sees the pleading look in Jason's eyes.

'Do you think that we could just be friends? I mean, I'm going back home tomorrow, but I'd like to be able to talk with you,' Jason says.

'I'm sorry too, Jason. I'm sorry for the way I reacted. I took a lot of my frustration out on you and I shouldn't have done that. I think we can still be friends,' she says.

'Oh, good, I really enjoyed my time with you Donna,' he says.

'Me too,' she says with a smile.

'Brandon,' Kelly says walking up to him.

'Don't ask me about them, Kel,' he says and goes to get something to drink. 'David, let's go with some music, huh?'

'Oh, yeah, sure, Brandon,' David says getting back behind his keyboard.

'So, guys, how did you like your short stay in Los Angeles?' Andrea asks them.

'I've had a great time. It was so exciting to work on a show like 'Chicago' with real professional actors. I got to spend some time in the city sightseeing and I made it down the beach a few times. All in all it's been quite and experience,' Lily says.

'How is this different from London?' Kelly asks her.

'Well, for one thing, the sun comes out,' Sean says. Everyone starts to laugh along with them.

'I really hope to come back here at some point in my career. It's beautiful out here and you guys were so nice and accommodating,' Jason says.

Jason looks at Donna, Sean looks at Andrea, and Lily looks at Steve.

'Food is ready, come on up and get a plate,' Nat says to them to break the silence.

_Dylan's House_

Brenda had followed Dylan back to his house. She tried some acting techniques she learned in the car to calm herself down enough to keep her emotions in check. She knows that she at least has to listen to what he has to say for himself if there was any chance of working this out.

They park the cars in the driveway and walk into the house in silence. Brenda follows Dylan over to the couch and sits down.

Dylan finally looks up and meets her eyes. He's not sure where to start and finally decides that he needs to go back to the beginning.

'Bren, I wasn't sure that I would have a good time at the party, but I figured that I would go because I knew it would make you happy. I actually ended up having an okay time, especially at the end there with the card games,' Dylan says.

Brenda grabs a pillow to hold from the couch and sits it in her lap while he talks.

'I knew that you weren't too comfortable drinking around me, but I was determined to not let that ruin your evening, so I encouraged you to have a few,' Dylan continues.

'I wasn't thinking at the time of how that might affect me. The thought never even crossed my mind that I would react the way that I did when I kissed you that night. As soon as I tasted alcohol, something took over my mind and my body. I had no control over the immediate urge to taste it again and again, which led me to say and do some horrible things to you,' Dylan says.

'After you left, I grabbed my keys and got in the car for the sole purpose of finding more alcohol to calm the demon inside. I drove to a liquor store and stood outside staring at the building for a few minutes,' Dylan tells her.

Brenda drops her head a little and pulls the pillow in her hands tighter to her body.

'I got some control back and that's when I called Ben. He really did calm me down and I came back here and took something to help me sleep through it. When I woke up the next morning, it was still there, the feeling in my gut. It started driving me crazy and I couldn't take it anymore. I was so stressed out and mad with the urge that I was sweating and with my eyes closed found a hidden bottle and started to drink,' he says.

Brenda doesn't look up as he explains how he drowned himself.

'I drank slowly until the bottle was gone. I dozed off and the sound of my stomach grumbling woke me up. I was still pretty drunk, so I decided to walk to get some food. I was on my way back when a cop pulled up next to me and told me to get on the sidewalk. I guess I was walking in the middle of the street without realizing it,' he says.

Brenda shakes her head a little and looks up at him finally. She has tears in her eyes and was trying as hard as she could to hold them in.

'I guess I was a lucky in a way. He definitely could have charged me with resisting arrest, since I shoved him off the curb when he came close to me. I knew the cop though, and he saw the state I was in. He said that he couldn't leave me out here in good conscience so he took me in and charged me with the misdemeanor of drunk and disorderly,' he continues.

'It took a while, but I finally sobered up and got through the initial violent reaction to not having any alcohol in my system. That's when they asked me who to call to come and get me and you know the rest,' he tells her.

Brenda wipes the tears from her eyes and face with her hands. She lifts her head to meet his eyes and sees him sitting on the other end of the couch, completely ashamed of what he had done.

'Let me tell you what was going on while you were in jail,' she says firmly. 'I bombed my Equity auditions, I bombed my Shakespeare final, and I almost vomited several times because I was so worried and so scared that something horrible had happened to you. I was trying so hard not to tell anyone what had happened and with everything just bottling up inside, I couldn't take it anymore. I stayed up all night just staring at this wall worried sick about what might have happened, until I finally talked to Ben,' she says.

'He said that he had talked to you and that he talked you down from getting drunk, but that he hadn't heard from you since. He was going to call some people to see if anyone had seen or heard from you, and then I got the call from the police station,' she says.

Brenda sees the hurt across Dylan's face. He looked as if he was about to cry again.

'I'm so sorry, Brenda. It won't happen again. I swear it won't. I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I really am,' he says.

'Dylan,' she says with tears rolling down her face, 'I don't know how to work through this. I was so angry, upset, worried, terrified, and sad all at the same time. I jeopardized my career and my life worrying about this,' Brenda says as she starts to feel the anger rise within her body.

Dylan just stares at her trying to figure out what she's trying to say.

'Maybe we're just not ready for the next step,' she says quietly.

'Bren,' Dylan says as he sits up, 'please don't say that. I admit that it hasn't been an easy road, but don't throw everything we've worked for and accomplished in the last six months away, please!' he pleads.

'I'm not about to do that Dylan. I really do love you with all my heart, but this problem is not going to fix itself and I don't know what to do about that,' she says, almost at a whisper.

'Please, just tell me what to do. Tell me how I can make this up to you. There has to be something I can do about this,' he begs her.

'I just don't know what that is,' she says.


	45. Chapter 45

_Sorry this one took so long to get up here. Life has been a little crazy!_

_**The Time of Our Lives – Chapter 45**_

Brenda and Dylan look at each other not knowing what to say. Dylan tries to hold himself together, while he watches the tears freely flow down her face.

They both jump violently as the phone starts to ring. Dylan gets up reluctantly and answers it.

'Hello, my name is Thomas Carter and I'm a producer with The Old Globe theatre in San Diego. Is a Ms. Brenda Walsh at home?' the voice says.

Dylan furrows his brow and looks in Brenda's direction.

'Sure, hold on please,' he says and slowly hands the phone to Brenda.

Brenda takes it, completely confused by Dylan's reaction.

'Ms. Walsh?' the voice says.

'Yes?'

Dylan watches and listens to Brenda talk on the phone. She starts to walk back and forth and Dylan can only follow her with his eyes trying to figure out how a theatre in San Diego found out about her.

'Yes, of course I can come tomorrow. Thank you very much,' she says and hangs up.

'What was that?' he asks her.

'I got a callback for an audition I went on. The Old Globe is one of the most famous, historical professional theatres in the country,' Brenda says and can't help but smile.

'Did you drive all the way to San Diego for an audition?' he asks with confusion and a little hint of sadness in his voice.

'No, of course I didn't, Dylan,' she says walking back to sit on the couch. 'They had open auditions at a theatre downtown for their entire spring schedule,' she tells him.

'Is the show you got a callback for being performed here?'

'I don't know. He didn't say which show they were thinking about casting me in. I guess, they'll decide at the callback audition,' she tells him.

Dylan stays quiet for a few minutes and sits back down on the couch. He puts his elbow on the arm of the couch and holds his head up with his hand.

He finally turns and looks at her. 'Bren, I can't even put into words how horrible I feel about hurting you. It's eating me up inside and I can't concentrate on anything else. We have to find some way to resolve this,' he says.

Brenda knows that feeling all too well by this point in their relationship. Having to deal with all of the obstacles put in their way while they were together the first time has put this in a little perspective for her.

'I just need some time, Dylan,' she says. He closes his eyes and starts to shake his head.

'I'm not saying that I want to be apart from you,' Brenda adds quickly when she sees his reaction. 'It's just going to take me a little bit of time to get over this.'

With tears in his eyes, Dylan lifts his head and just says, 'Okay.'

Brenda gets up off of the couch and stands in front of him.

'I'm going to go back to the Peach Pit and say goodbye to Jason, Sean, and Lily since I didn't really have a chance to before,' she tells him.

He looks up at her without moving his head. 'Are you coming back?' he asks with a little bit of hope in his voice.

'Yes,' she says and leaves the house.

She gets in the car and starts to cry. She cries all the way back to the Peach Pit and after parking, sits in the car for a few minutes putting herself back together.

She walks in to the diner and sees everyone milling around picking things up and clearing tables.

She walks up to where Jason, Sean, and Lily are standing with Kelly, Donna, and Andrea.

'I'm sorry for taking off like that before, guys. There was something I had to take care of, but I wanted to come back and make sure I saw you before you left,' she says.

'I'm going to miss you guys and I'm so glad that you got to spend this much time out here with us,' she says.

'Well, I'm really glad that I got to see you perform again. I'm going to miss you too,' Sean says and gives her a hug.

'Brenda, it was so great to be with you in London and then here in L.A.,' Lily says. 'I hope we get to see you again.'

'Me too, Lily,' Brenda says putting her arms around her.

'Brenda, please let us know if you're going to be performing again. I'd love to come and see you up on stage,' Jason says, joining in the hug with Lily.

'Have a safe trip back, guys. Have some fish and chips for me when you get there,' Brenda says with a smile.

'You got it,' Sean says.

The gang starts their goodbyes, as Brandon pulls Brenda aside.

'Bren, are you guys alright?' he whispers to her.

Brenda just shakes her head and says, 'I'll see you at home.'

She leaves the diner and drives back to her house.

'One more night in L.A., what should we do?' Lily asks.

'Let's go and find a nice restaurant for dinner and then maybe a club?' Sean suggests.

'Sounds like a plan, I'm in,' Steve says. 'Kelly, Andrea, Donna, David, are you coming?'

'I'll go with you guys,' Andrea says.

Brandon walks up to stand next to Kelly. 'Kel, I can't come over tonight as originally planned, you should go ahead and hang out with them,' he says.

'Why?'

'I have to go back to my house for a little while and take care of something,' he says and looks toward the door.

Kelly follows his gaze to the door that Brenda just walked out of when she left.

'Are you going to tell me what's going on?'

Brandon shakes his head and leaves the diner to catch up with his sister.

'Okay, looks like my night just opened up,' Kelly says.

'I'm sorry, I can't join you guys. I have to have dinner with my Dad tonight,' David says.

He packs up his stuff, says a short goodbye to all of them, and leaves the diner.

_Dylan's House_

Dylan sat and stared at the door for about an hour after Brenda left. He finally gets up and goes into the bedroom. He sees the pile of Brenda's clothes on the bed from the night of the party and sighs.

He looks around the room for a place to put them and realizes that he didn't make any room for her yet. He starts to clean out his closet and one of his dressers.

He hangs Brenda's nice clothes in the closet and folds her other ones and puts them into a drawer.

He changes the sheets on the bed and the towels in the bathroom and starts a load of laundry.

He walks through the kitchen and stops himself when he sees the sink full of dishes. He stands at the sink and washes all of the dishes. He dries them and puts them away where they belong in the cabinet.

After that, he moves to the dining room and puts all of Brenda's papers in a neat pile for her. He finds a some of mail and other things that he just piled up and never went through.

He sifts through stack of papers, finding bills he never opened, a newspaper from six months ago, and a lot of junk mail. He starts to sort the important items from the junk and as he throws an envelope into one of the piles he feels something stuck to the back of it. He turns the envelope over and pulls off the piece of paper that was on the back.

He opens it and starts to read. After a few sentences he sinks down into one of the chairs at the table and closes his eyes. He finds himself reading what must have been a rough draft of the letter he eventually sent to London with Donna to give to Brenda.

He remembers back to how stupid he felt running away down to Baja. He knew that Brenda was the one for him, even then, but he didn't quite trust it. He still hadn't figured out why he ever doubted that they belonged together.

He crumples the letter and throws it into the trash can.

'_Well, we're way past that point now.'_

He continues to clean up the dining room, lining up all of the chairs with the table. He moves to the living room and starts straightening up in there. He gets everything off of the floor and goes to the closet to get the vacuum out for the rugs.

It takes him a few hours, but after he's done cleaning the entire house, he can almost see the surfaces shining back at him.

He sighs, grabs a book, sits on the couch, and waits for Brenda to return.

_Casa Walsh_

Brandon gets to the house and runs right up to Brenda's room. He opens to door to find her sitting on the window seat staring out the window.

'Bren, are you alright?' he asks, taking a few steps closer to her.

She turns her head slightly toward him and he sees the tears rolling down her face. He grabs a few tissues from her bedside table and joins her on the window seat.

He wipes her face as he puts his arm around her shoulder. She lays her head down and starts to cry all over again.

'He told me the whole story, Brandon. He found a bottle hidden in his house somewhere and drank the whole thing. He left the house to get something to eat and a cop caught him walking down the middle of the street in the middle of the night,' she tells him.

'He apologized over and over again and swore that it wouldn't happen again. I just don't know how to work through these feelings to get past this,' Brenda says.

'Do you believe him, Bren? Do you think that he's really sorry deep down inside?' Brandon asks her.

Brenda thinks about her conversation with Dylan at his house.

'I do believe him, Brandon. I guess I'm still a little scared,' she says.

Brandon rubs her arm with his hand. 'It's okay to be a little scared, Bren, but do you think that you guys can get past this and move on?'

Brenda sighs and stares at the floor. She looks up at her brother after about a minute of thinking about it.

'Yeah, I do,' she says.

'Good, then you know what you have to do,' he says.

Brenda wipes her tears again and sits up. 'Thanks, Brandon,' she says.

He smiles at her and hugs her tight. He leaves her room and goes back to his.

Brenda sits looking around her room. 'Okay,' she says to herself.

She gets up and gets a box out of her closet. She starts to put a few things in the box from her closet and then goes into the bathroom and picks up a few more things. She fills the box and puts it in the back of her car.

She drives slowly over to Dylan's house trying to work out in her head what she's going to say to him. She parks the car in the driveway and sits staring at the house for a minute.

She finally gets herself moving and grabs the box from the back of the car. She opens to the door to see Dylan sitting on the couch reading a book. She puts the box down by the door and immediately starts looking around the house.

He watches her eyes dart from room to room as she notices the fact that he cleaned up the entire house.

'This place looks great,' she says, sitting down next to him on the couch.

'Thanks,' Dylan says looking around himself, 'I thought it would be nice for you to come back to a clean house.'

Brenda smiles at him and puts her hand on top of his. He looks at her for a few seconds, but his eyes shift quickly to the box she came in with. By the way she was holding it, he wasn't quite sure whether it was full or empty. He gets a pang in his chest wondering if she came back to tell him that she no longer wanted to move in.

'Dylan,' Brenda says, 'what's going on in there?'

Dylan snaps out of his thoughts and turns his attention back to her. She feels his body tense up and he sighs.

'What's in the box?'

Brenda smiles softly. 'Just some more of my things,' she says, and feels some of the tension subside.

'Dylan, of all of the things we've been through together, this is something I can definitely see us pulling through to the other side,' she says.

Dylan smiles for the first time since he got out of jail. He squeezes her hand and says, 'I am so glad to hear you say that.'

'Let's just call this a little bump in the road and move on, okay?' she says. She sees Dylan nod his head slightly in her direction.

'But,' she says seriously, 'don't you ever worry me like that again. We're in this together, Dylan, don't ever forget that.'

Dylan pulls her to him quickly and kisses her. 'I promise,' he whispers into her ear.

Brenda feels some of her feelings of anger and stress leave her body as she kisses him. He wraps his arms around her and pulls her close. She lets herself enjoy the feeling of being in his arms again until he pulls away slightly.

'I have a surprise for you,' he says with a smile.

Brenda raises her eyebrows as he takes her hand and leads her to the bedroom. She notices right away that the room is impeccably clean. She stands near the bed and watches him open the closet door to reveal her clothes hanging nice and neat.

He moves to the dresser and opens up the first three drawers, two of which are completely empty, with one drawer holding some of her other clothes.

'Wow, you did all of this while I was gone?'

'Bren, I don't want you to feel like this isn't your house now too. It was time to make some room for you and all of your things, so I thought I'd get a jumpstart,' he says.

Brenda smiles at him and as a tear rolls down her face she tries to figure out where it came from.

'I love you, Bren, I don't want you to ever have to go through what I just put you through again,' he says.

He puts his arms around her waist and drops down to kiss her neck.

'I love you too,' she says and wraps her arms around him.

_The Beach Apartment_

Kelly stands in front of her closet trying to decide what to bring to Palm Springs for her vacation with Brandon. She selects a few outfits and begins to fold them and put them in her suitcase.

Donna stands in her doorway watching her pack for her trip.

'When are you leaving?' she asks.

Kelly looks up from her suitcase and smiles at her friend. 'A few days,' she says.

'Are you alright, Donna? Did you make up with Jason?' Kelly asks her.

'Yeah, I'm alright. We talked at the party and I agreed to be friends with him. I apologized for freaking out on him and told him that I just needed to get my frustration out and unfortunately he was the recipient of all of that,' she says.

'Well, at least that's over with, huh? Did you get anything out of being with him?' Kelly says.

'It was definitely different than being with David, but I don't think it was any better. I guess I just haven't really found what I'm looking for yet,' Donna says and stares down at the floor.

Kelly walks over to her and puts her hand on Donna's shoulder.

'You will, sweetie, I know you will,' she says.

'Thanks, Kel. Let me know if you need help or anything, okay?' Donna says.

'Okay,' Kelly says and goes back to her closet.

_Dylan's House_

Brenda stands in the bathroom brushing her hair as she gets ready to go to the callback audition.

Dylan sits on the bed waiting for her to come out and when she finally does and stands in front of him, he smiles at her.

'You look great, baby,' he says.

'Thank you, wish me luck,' she says and leans over to kiss him.

'You are going to be fantastic, Bren. You are going to be so fantastic they won't be able to contain themselves,' he says.

Brenda starts to laugh at him.

'Let's hope so,' she says and starts to walk out of the bedroom. Dylan follows her into the living room.

'Do you want me to take you there, you know, like old times,' Dylan says with a hopeful face.

Brenda smiles at him and can't help but notice that he's a little nervous standing in front of her.

'Sure,' she says, trying to be enthusiastic to lighten him up. He looks up at her with a huge smile on his face and nods his head.

'Let's go then,' she says and opens the front door.

He grabs his coat and his keys and follows her out the door.

Dylan drops Brenda off at one of the theatres downtown for her callback audition.

'I'm not sure how long this will take,' she says, getting out of the car.

'Don't worry about me, I can keep myself busy for a while,' he says. 'Break a leg, Bren.'

Brenda smiles and turns to walk into the theatre.

Dylan drives off and parks the car a few blocks away from the theatre. He gets out and goes into a building.

'Dylan, it's good to see you. How are you doing?' Ben says.

Dylan smiles at him and then drops his head.

'I'm doing better. I think Brenda and I have worked through what happened, at least for now,' Dylan tells him.

'Good, I'm glad to hear that. Well, shall we?'

Dylan nods and follows Ben to find an empty seat.

'If everyone will take their seats, we can begin the meeting,' Dylan hears as he sits down.

_Casa Walsh_

'Hey, Kel,' Brandon says over the phone.

'I am already packing, Brandon, so this better not be a bad phone call,' Kelly warns.

Brandon starts to laugh. 'It's not, Kel, don't worry. I was just going to ask if we could stay longer than a week,' he says.

'Longer? How much longer?' she asks.

'Um, like forever?' Brandon suggests.

Kelly laughs. 'Oh, God, what happened?'

'It's nothing. I've been looking forward to getting out of here for a while and the thought occurred to me that I might not want to come back.'

'Funny, Brandon. Is everything alright?'

'Yeah, I think so. Thank you for understanding about Saturday night. I really needed to come back here,' he says.

'It's okay, Brandon. I don't know what happened with Brenda and Dylan, and I know that you're not going to tell me, but I'm glad everything is okay,' she says.

'Well, I guess it's as okay as it's going to be,' he says with a sigh. 'So, when do you want to get out of here? Maybe we should leave like today or tomorrow,' Brandon says.

'We can leave whenever you want, Brandon. I can be ready in a few hours if you want to leave tonight,' she tells him.

Brandon thinks about it for a few seconds and starts to nod his head. 'Yeah, let's do that. I think I really just need to leave all of this behind.'

'You got it. I'll come and get you in a few hours and we'll get out of here,' she says.

'I'll be ready,' he says and hangs up the phone.

He starts running around his room, throwing clothes and things in a bag as quickly as he can.

He goes into the bathroom to get a few things and looks over into Brenda's room.

'_I better tell her what's going on so she doesn't worry about me.'_

Brandon sits down at his desk and writes Brenda a quick note. He tapes it to her mirror and goes back to his room to finish getting his things together.

_The Theatre_

Brenda almost skips out of the theatre after her callback audition. She felt very confident that she was going to get a part in one of the shows they were casting. She stands on the curb in front of the theatre smiling from ear to ear and looking down the street for Dylan's car.

She sees him turn the corner and stop in front of the theatre.

'Hey, how did it go?' he asks her.

'Dylan, it went great. From the looks on their faces after I finished my audition piece, I just know they're going to cast me in something,' Brenda says with excitement.

'Bren, that's great. I'm really happy for you,' he says.

Brenda sees a slip of paper flapping between the seats and picks it up. She looks at it briefly and then back up at Dylan.

He turns his head slightly and smiles at her.

'Did you go to a meeting?' she asks.

'Yeah, I figured I had some time while you were in there and I really wanted to talk to Ben,' he tells her.

'How was it?'

'It was alright. It kind of felt good to get back into it on a regular basis again. I didn't realize how much I needed to go,' he says.

He parks the car at the house and they go inside.

'So, when are they going to let you know?' Dylan asks her.

'A few days, I think,' she says and sits next to him on the couch. 'Dylan?'

Dylan lifts his head to meet her eyes. 'Yeah?'

'Can we talk about some 'what if' situations for a minute?' she asks him softly.

'Um, sure,' he says with a little confusion.

'What if when I get this job,' she says with confidence, 'it's not in L.A.?'

'Bren, don't worry about that. You have a car that will take you anywhere you need to go,' he tells her.

'I know, but I'm a little scared,' she says, grabbing his hand and squeezing it.

'What are you scared of, Bren?' he asks her.

'I got really stressed out going to school and performing at night. I know that I won't have schoolwork anymore, but this is professional theatre. What if I can't handle that and everything else at the same time?'

Dylan pulls her closer to him and she leans her body on his with her head on his shoulder.

'Brenda, this is your dream. This is what you want to do with your life, right now, at this moment. I know you're worried about us, but I assure you, we'll be fine. I'll be fine,' he says.

Brenda sighs and squeezes his hand. 'What if I'm too busy with this show and you're too busy with school and things just start to fall apart? I don't want to lose this, Dylan, we've put so much into building our relationship to this point, that I'm just scared,' she says and starts to cry.

Dylan hugs her tight to his body and feels her weeping. 'Bren, we are going to get through whatever gets thrown our way, okay? I love you too much to just let this fall apart,' he says, kissing her on the top of her head.

'I love you too,' Brenda says through her sobs.

_Dr. Chase's Office – the next day_

'David, it's good to see you. How are you doing today?' Dr. Chase asks.

'Actually, I'm doing really well. I took your advice and starting composing again. I've written a bunch of new songs and am actually enjoying music again,' he says with a smile.

'Oh, that's great to hear,' she says.

'I think I might be getting a steady gig too,' he says. 'This new club opened and the owner is looking for a regular Friday night DJ. I think I have a real shot at landing it, so I sent him my tapes,' David says.

'Really? That's great to hear. You have some ambition and drive behind your voice,' she observes.

'Yeah, well, after the party at Kelly's, I decided that it's no use being miserable. I have to start doing what makes me happy. I'm not looking for someone to be with, and I'm not sitting at home pining over Donna, I'm writing music, listening to music, and just letting it infiltrate me. It's one of the most intense feelings I've ever had,' David tells her.

'I'm so glad to hear you say that, David,' she says with a smile.


	46. Chapter 46

_**The Time of Our Lives – Chapter 46**_

'So, we'll see you on Friday night?'

'Absolutely, thank you so much,' David says into the phone. He hangs it up and starts to dance around.

'David, are you alright?' Mel asks coming into his room.

'Dad, I am great! The manager at that new club downtown wants me to spin on Friday night!'

'Are you sure you're ready for that, David?'

'I have never felt better,' he says, grabs his jacket and runs out of his room.

_The Peach Pit_

David comes bursting through the door and starts to look around the diner.

'Steve!'

Steve looks up to see David walking quickly toward him.

'What's up David?' he asks him.

'I just got a gig down at that new club Avenues for Friday night. Would you do me a favor?' David asks as he sits down next to Steve.

'What's that?'

'Can you help me set up my stuff and sound check with me?'

'Sure, I'll help you, what's in it for me?'

'Free admission?' David suggests.

Steve stares at him for a few seconds. 'I'm not amused by that, David.'

'Come on, Steve, help me out, just this once? I would ask Brandon, but he's not around,' David tells him.

'Oh, so I'm your second choice then, huh?'

David gets up from the table and stands in defeat in front of Steve. 'Never mind, I'll find someone else.'

'David, don't go like that. I'll help you. What time do you need to be there?' Steve says with a little reluctance.

'Six-thirty, don't be late,' David says and walks out of the diner.

_Dylan's House_

Dylan gets up off of the couch at the sound of the ringing phone.

'Hello?' Dylan says and then pauses. 'Uh, sure, hold on.'

He walks into the bedroom with the phone and smiles when he sees Brenda napping. She looked so peaceful that he almost felt bad waking her up.

'Baby,' he says rubbing her arm, 'wake up.'

Brenda slowly opens her eyes at the sound of Dylan's voice. 'Hmmm?'

'That guy from the theatre in San Diego is on the phone,' Dylan says softly.

Brenda sits up quickly and takes the phone from him. He leans toward her and kisses her on the forehead before leaving the room.

'Hello?'

'Brenda, this is Tom Carter from the Old Globe,' she hears a voice say.

'Oh, yes, Mr. Carter, it's great to hear from you,' Brenda says.

'I'm calling today because I have a part to offer you. You were incredible at the callback audition and I have to say that this was a unanimous decision by the board and the production staff,' he says.

'Thank you very much,' she says.

'The board at the Old Globe has wanted to do a certain production for a long time, but we haven't been able to find the right people for it. I am happy to say that with you on board, we can finally do it,' he says with excitement.

Brenda smiles into the phone in anticipation.

'Brenda, we'd like to offer you the role of Mary in 'A Long Day's Journey Into Night'', he says.

Brenda opens her mouth as wide as it will go. 'Oh, thank you, thank you so much. This is an incredible opportunity for me,' she says with excitement.

'For us, too, Brenda,' he says laughing. 'We'd like to start rehearsing next week. Would you be able to come down to the theatre tomorrow and pick up the production schedule and be fitted?' he asks her.

'I can absolutely come down tomorrow. I look forward to seeing the theatre and meeting everyone,' she says.

'Great, see you tomorrow then, around eleven?' he says.

'Sounds good, thank you again,' Brenda says and hangs up the phone.

'Dylan!' she screams running out of the bedroom.

He jumps a little when Brenda comes running from the bedroom and plops down on the couch next to him.

'They offered me one of the most amazing roles written by Eugene O'Neill!' she says.

Dylan smiles at her enthusiasm and pulls her into his arms.

'Of course they did, did you have any doubt?' he asks her.

'This is incredible,' Brenda says hugging him.

Dylan smiles at her and leans in to kiss her.

'I knew you would impress them, Bren, I just knew it.'

'Yeah, I impressed them alright,' Brenda says with a little sadness in her voice, 'all the way to San Diego.'

'Brenda, please stop worrying. Everything is going to be fine, just like I said,' he says.

'I have to go down to the theatre tomorrow to get some paperwork, how long do you think it will take me to get there from here?' she asks him.

'Where is the theatre located?' he asks her.

'Um, let me check,' she says getting up and moving to the table to look through her papers.

'Balboa Park?' she says.

'Oh, okay, that's right by the zoo, Bren,' he tells her. 'It'll probably take you anywhere from two to four hours each way.'

'Each way? Wow, I didn't think it was that far,' she says.

'Well, you have to factor in the almighty beast that is commuting traffic, Bren,' he says.

'That's a long day,' she says with a sigh and sits down next to him.

He rubs her arm with his hand and tries to get her to look at him.

'It is a long day, are you sure you're going to be able to do this?' he asks gently.

'I don't know, Dylan, but I'm going to go and get the schedule tomorrow and talk to them about the fact that I'll be coming from here and maybe they'll help me work something out,' she says.

She turns her body and leans back into Dylan's chest trying to relax. 'I'm so excited and scared all at the same time,' she says.

'I know, baby, but once you start rehearsing and getting into this character, you won't even notice the drive anymore,' he says.

'I hope you're right,' she says.

_Palm Springs_

Brandon opens the door to the hotel room and waits for Kelly to walk inside.

'Brandon, that was a great meal. That restaurant was so romantic,' Kelly says with a smile on her face.

She puts her purse down on the desk and walks back over to where Brandon was standing.

He puts his arms around her body and pulls her close. 'Yes it was, very romantic,' he whispers softly.

He drops his head to kiss her neck as she wraps her arms around him.

Kelly closes her eyes and enjoys the feeling of Brandon's lips on her body. 'Oh, I wish we could stay here forever,' she says.

'Me too,' he breathes into her neck, 'but alas we must depart in a few days.'

He nibbles up the side of her neck to her ear and smiles into her body when he hears a little moan escape from her mouth.

She starts moving backward toward the bed, pulling Brandon with her. He lays her down gently and caresses the side of her face with his hand.

'You are so beautiful,' he whispers.

'Brandon,' Kelly whispers, staring up into his bright blue eyes. 'I love you.'

Brandon smiles and cups her face in his hands. 'I love you.'

They embrace quickly and start pulling at each other's clothes.

_Dylan's House – the next day_

'Dylan?' Brenda says softly, trying to wake him up. 'I have to go now.'

Dylan opens his eyes slowly and tries to get the blurry image of Brenda in front of him into focus.

He rubs his eyes and stares at her. 'Huh?'

'I have to go down to San Diego now to meet with the theatre people,' Brenda says.

'Really? What time is it?' he asks her trying to locate a clock.

Brenda laughs for a few seconds and then leans down to kiss him on the forehead. 'It's six-thirty, Dylan. If it takes me four hours to get there, I'll still be early,' she says with a smile.

'Brenda, be careful, okay? Are you sure you know where you're going?' he asks her with concern.

'Of course I do, Dylan. Don't worry, I'll be fine,' she says, kissing him one more time before leaving the bedroom.

She goes out to her car and pulls out of the driveway.

Dylan sits up in bed and stares at the bedroom door. He sighs to himself, flops back down on the bed and tries to go back to sleep.

_The Peach Pit_

'Hey, Nat, what's for lunch, I'm starving,' Donna says with a smile. She sits on one of the stools at the counter.

'Donna, dear, anything you want,' he says, smiling back at her.

'I think it's a cheeseburger day,' she says.

'You got it, sweetheart,' he says winking at her.

Donna turns her head to follow Nat as he walks away and she sees David at one of the tables with a bunch of papers spread out, scratching his head as he stares at them.

Steve comes into the diner and goes straight over to where David is sitting.

'So, everything all set for Friday night?' Steve asks him.

'Not quite, I've been out of this for so long now, that I don't even know what's popular right now,' David says with frustration.

'Not to worry, my young friend, not to worry, Steve is here to help you along,' he says, handing David a piece of paper.

'What is this, Steve?' David asks looking at the paper.

'I was invited to go downtown to Secrets last night and I decided to do some reconnaissance for you,' he says with a smile.

'That is a list of the artists people were talking about and some of the songs they played. I tried to remember as much as I could, but I may have missed a few things,' Steve says.

'Wow, thanks, Steve, this is great,' David says perking up.

'You should come with me tonight, David, and do a little snooping of your own. You want to be successful on Friday, don't you?'

David looks up at Steve and just nods his head slowly.

'Great, I'll meet you here tonight at ten,' Steve tells him getting up from the table.

David watches Steve wink and nod at every girl in the diner on his way out. David smiles and then starts to laugh at Steve, when he catches Donna's eye. He didn't even notice that she was sitting at the counter until they lock eyes.

David gives her a weak smile and then stares immediately back down at his papers.

Donna sighs and decides that rather than sit here feeling uncomfortable about not talking to him, that she would go over and say hello.

She gets up slowly and walks over to David's table.

'Hi David,' she says in a small voice.

David looks up and sees her standing in front of him. She smiles at him and he can't help but smile back.

'Hi,' he says, inviting her to sit with him. She sits down slowly across from him.

'What are you doing over here?' she asks.

'Oh, I got a gig down at this club on Friday night and I'm just trying to figure out my set,' he says.

'Wow, a club, that's great. I'm really happy for you,' she says.

'You should come down, Donna. I've only been in the club once, but it seemed pretty cool,' he says.

'Um, I don't know, David,' she says uncomfortably.

'You don't have to come if you don't want to, but Kelly and Brandon won't be back in time to see the show and that leaves me with just Steve,' David says with a pleading look in his eye.

Donna looks into his eyes and wishes she didn't feel her whole body tense up.

'Okay, David,' she gives in, 'but I probably won't stay that long.'

David smiles at her and she feels the emotions begin to swell in her chest. She hasn't seen him smile at her with that kind of purpose in a long time.

Donna picks up one of the pieces of paper in front of her and starts looking at the songs David listed.

'Oh, David, you definitely have to play this one,' she says and grabs the pen in front of him and circles the song.

'I know, I love that one, but I can't figure out what to play before it, and nothing really goes after it,' he says staring back down at the papers.

Donna picks up a few more and starts circling different songs on them.

_San Diego_

It takes Brenda just a shade under four hours to get down to San Diego after hitting a few patches of traffic on the way there. She parks the car and begins to wander around Balboa Park. She sees the entrance to the zoo and a miniature railroad. She continues to walk down the path toward the theatre, passing by countless museums and gardens.

She smiles as she takes in the sights and slowly meanders down the walkway until she reaches the theatre. She stands in awe at the architecture of the theatre as it tries very hard to match the actual Globe Theatre in London.

She starts to remember the first time she went to The Globe in London to see a performance of Romeo and Juliet. She wondered if this theatre had bench seats like the real thing and columns on the stage.

She walks up to the door and opens it to go inside.

'Brenda, I'm so glad you're here. Thanks for coming down today,' Mr. Carter says as he sees her come through the door.

'It's nice to see you again,' she says with a smile and shakes his hand.

'I don't know if you remember from your auditions, but this is the director, John,' he says waving at the man standing next to him.

'Of course, John,' she says.

'Brenda, I have so many ideas for this show and I can't wait to share them with you,' John says.

'I'm all ears,' she says, following them into the theatre to the stage.

Brenda looks around the theatre and smiles to herself. From the outside it looks very much like a theatre would in the time of Shakespeare, but from the inside, it was as modern as a theatre could get.

'This is an amazing space,' she says, stepping up onto the stage and looking out into the audience.

'Yes, it is and it's perfect for this play,' John says.

'Brenda,' Tom says coming back onto the stage, 'here is the production schedule and a copy of the script for you.'

'Thank you,' Brenda says looking at the schedule, seeing that rehearsals usually start around noon and run until four or five in the evening. She sighs a little and starts thinking about how she was going to survive driving back and forth.

'Is there something wrong?' John asks her, seeing her face contort a little bit.

'Oh, no, nothing at all. I'm driving down from Los Angeles, so I was just calculating how long my day was going to be,' she says with a weak smile.

'Los Angeles? Wow, that's quite a long way,' John says with nervousness in his voice.

'Please don't worry, I am committed to this show and will do everything I need to do to make sure that I am here on time every day,' she says trying to convince them.

'I'm sure you will, Brenda, I have no doubt,' Tom says. 'Just in case you start to feel a little stressed out, I'm sure we can find you a room somewhere or an apartment to lease during the run of the show. You could stay here during the week and go back on the weekends,' he suggests.

Brenda listens to him and starts nodding her head slightly. 'You know, I never thought about that,' she says.

'Well, if you want to do that, let me know and I'll be glad to help you find something,' he says with a smile.

'Thank you very much, that's very kind of you,' she says.

'So, this place will be crawling with actors and production people most days that we are here. This complex is actually three theatres right next to each other, but one of them is an outdoor theatre and not in production right now,' John tells her.

'What's going up at the other one?' she asks him.

'Well, it's theatre in the round actually and I'm really excited because they're performing Bogosian's 'Drinking in America', which is so perfect for that kind of venue,' he says.

'Oh, yeah, that's an amazing set of monologues. I love the way he writes,' she says.

John smiles at her. 'Well, Brenda, let's go to the costume area and get you measured up and then we'll talk about the show,' he says.

'Okay,' she says and follows him.

_Dylan's House_

Dylan hangs up the phone after talking to Brenda. She was just leaving San Diego and probably wouldn't be back until late. He ventures out to the Peach Pit for dinner.

'Dylan, it's good to see you, where have you been?' Nat says when he comes through the door.

'Just taking a little break, Nat,' Dylan says, sitting at the counter.

Nat brings him a cup of coffee and sets it down in front of him. He stops for just a second and watches Dylan drop his head and pick up the cup.

'You okay?' he asks softly.

Dylan slowly brings his head up and nods. 'Yeah,' he says.

Nat nods and smiles as the door opens and Steve and David come in.

'Dylan!' Steve says, patting him on the back and sitting at the counter with him. 'What's going on, buddy?'

'Nothing much, what are you two up to?' Dylan asks them.

'Just getting David ready for his debut at a new club downtown,' Steve says proudly.

'Steve, you're just helping with the equipment, remember?' David chimes in.

'And getting in for free,' Steve reminds him.

'That's great, David, congratulations,' Dylan says as Nat comes over to refill his coffee.

'Thanks, man, I really feel good about this. I think it's just what I needed,' David says softly.

'I'm glad you're hanging in there, David,' Dylan says.

'Hey, where's Brenda? I haven't seen her in a while. I wanted to invite you and her to come to the club on Friday,' David says.

'Ah, well, she's rehearsing. She got a job with a professional theatre,' Dylan tells them.

'No way, that's great news,' David says.

Steve watches Dylan talk about Brenda with no inflection in his voice whatsoever.

'Dylan, aren't you happy for her?' Steve prods.

'Of course I am, Steve. It's just that the job is in San Diego,' he tells them.

'Whoa, that's quite a drive,' Steve says.

Nat brings Dylan's dinner over to him in a bag. Dylan drops some money on the counter and stands up.

'Good luck on Friday, David, I'm sure you'll be great,' Dylan says and leaves the diner.

Dylan goes back to his house, eats his dinner, and then sits on the couch watching television, waiting for Brenda to come through the door. He looks over at the clock for the tenth time wishing it would go by faster.

Brenda yawns as she gets closer to L.A. She turns the radio up and opens the window in the hope of staying awake long enough to make it back to the house.

She starts singing along with the radio and bopping her head to the music. After three and a half hours of driving she finally pulls up in front of Dylan's house.

She grabs her papers from the passenger seat and walks through the front door.

'Hey, I was about to send out the search party,' Dylan says standing up and walking toward her.

Brenda smiles weakly and closes her eyes as he wraps his arms around her and kisses the top of her head.

'Are you okay?' he asks.

Brenda nods and walks with him back over to the couch.

'How was it?' Dylan asks her.

'Oh, it was great, Dylan. The people at the theatre are really nice and the theatre itself is absolutely breathtaking. I think I'm going to like being there every day,' she says.

'Good, I'm glad,' he says.

'If only it was closer. That is one killer drive,' she says.

'I know it seems impossible right now, but I'm sure you'll get used to it and barely notice the long trip,' Dylan suggests, trying to convince her and himself at the same time.

'They offered to find me an apartment or a room somewhere for the run of the show,' she says softly.

'Really?'

'Yeah,' she says, 'I never thought about that, but I think I'm going to commute for a while and see how I feel.'

Dylan puts his arm around her and holds her close.


	47. Chapter 47

**The Time of Our Lives – Chapter 47**

_Avenues – Friday Night_

David begins to set up the equipment that he brought with him. Steve brings in a few more cords and hands them over.

'Okay, so what do you need help with?' Steve asks him.

'Um,' David says, looking around, 'if you could set up the keyboard stand, the keyboard, and then get it hooked up, that would be great.'

'Do you have everything you need, David?' the manager asks, coming over to them.

'Oh, yeah, absolutely, thanks,' David says.

'So, I'd like to see you spinning some tunes for an hour or so, play your own stuff for a while if you'd like to, and then go back to spinning until we close.'

'Sounds good,' David says.

'Oh, David, I cannot wait for this club to open tonight,' Steve says with excitement.

'What are you so excited about?'

'There are going to be so many fine ladies here that I might be a little overwhelmed.'

David rolls his eyes and continues to set up.

_The Beach Apartment_

Donna stands in front of the mirror trying to decide what outfit to wear to the club that night. She was excited for David and wanted everything to be perfect for him, but she also didn't want him to think that she was getting all dressed up for him.

She turns to grab the phone when it rings.

'Hey, Donna,' Kelly says.

'Kel? What's going on? Are you guys alright?' Donna asks, concerned.

'Oh, yeah, everything's fine. I just wanted to check in and tell you that we'll be leaving here tomorrow afternoon,' Kelly tells her.

'Did you have fun? I miss you guys,' Donna says.

'We are having a great time, Donna. It's so nice and peaceful here,' Kelly says.

'Good, well, have a safe trip back and I'll see you tomorrow,' Donna says.

'Okay!' Kelly says.

Donna turns around, throws the phone on her bed, and picks up an outfit.

She finishes getting dressed and touching up her makeup. She grabs her purse and gets in the car to drive down to the club.

Donna stands in the line outside of the club listening to the thumping noise coming from inside. She smiles as the line moves forward.

She gives the bouncer her identification and he lets her in. She wades through the crowd of people and tries to locate David. She looks above everyone's heads and finally sees him with headphones to his ear, standing on a high rise platform, dancing.

She smiles and tries as hard as she can to get closer to where he is. She pushes past a few people and then feels someone grab her arm. She turns quickly ready to strike.

'Whoa, whoa, down girl!' Steve says.

'Oh, Steve, you scared me,' Donna says, lowering her arm.

'Sorry, glad you're here, Donna,' he says. 'I have a table over near where David is, follow me,' he says.

He grabs her hand and leads her through the crowd to his table.

'Oh, this is perfect,' she says and sits down.

'Andrea is here too, somewhere,' Steve says, looking around. He sets his eyes on a beautiful girl on the dance floor and smiles.

'If you'll excuse me,' Steve says with a wink and walks off.

Donna shakes her head and watches him walk off as a waitress comes to her table.

'Can I get you anything?' she asks.

'Just a glass of water, please,' Donna asks her.

'Make that two,' Andrea says, sitting down with Donna.

'Hey, this place is incredible!' Andrea says.

'I just got here, but it looks pretty cool,' Donna says.

'The greatest thing about this is that it's a club that caters to people under 21,' Andrea tells her.

Donna stares at her with a little confusion.

'No bar, no liquor, no pressure,' Andrea says, pointing to counter behind them.

'Oh, wow, I hadn't noticed. That is pretty awesome,' Donna says.

She listens to the music that David is playing and starts bopping her head. He glances in her direction and does a double take when he finally sees her. He smiles broadly and raises his eyebrows in her direction.

The song changes and she hears one of her favorite songs come over the loudspeaker. She smiles back at him and watches the dance floor erupt in front of her.

She turns around when the waitress brings her water and catches the eye of a very cute guy standing next to the counter. She quickly glances at the table and then slowly picks her head up to look at him again.

She notices that he's looking back at her at feels the heat rising in her cheeks.

'Donna, are you okay?' Andrea asks her when she sees Donna's cheeks start to flush.

'Oh, yeah, I accidently stared at someone,' she says trying not to pick her head up.

Andrea starts to laugh. 'Donna, it's okay, it happens,' she says.

Steve comes around the corner with a girl on each arm and sits down with them.

'These are my friends, Andrea and Donna,' Steve says introducing them to his girls.

'It's nice to meet you,' Donna says offering her hand to one of the girls.

'Hi,' one of them says in a bored tone, never taking her eyes off of Steve.

The other one doesn't even acknowledge that there are other people at the table and just continues to place little kisses and nips on Steve's face and neck.

'Wow, not the talkative types, are we?' Andrea says with purpose.

'This is Jackie and Sam,' Steve says looking between them. They both giggle and continue to assault him with kisses.

'Ugh,' Donna says disgusted. 'I don't know about you, Andrea, but there is no way I'm going to sit here and watch that.'

She grabs her water glass and her purse and moves to find another place to sit.

Andrea turns her chair so that Steve and the girls are behind her and concentrates on David.

Donna finds a space to stand and leans up against the wall. She tries to turn her body so that she could get a view of David and bumps into someone.

'Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there,' she says.

'It's okay, no harm done,' the cute guy she was staring at says with a smile.

'Hi, I'm Chase,' he says.

'Donna,' she says.

'Well, it's nice to meet you Donna.'

'You too. I'm sorry if it seemed like I was staring at you before,' she says with embarrassment.

He laughs and nods his head. 'I was about to say the same thing.'

'Looks like Donna found a friend,' Steve says, opening his eyes long enough to find her in the crowd.

Andrea turns and sees her talking with a very handsome guy and smiles. 'Good for her,' she says.

Chase nods his head at something Donna just said and smiles again. 'Yeah, I don't particularly like coming to these places either, but I heard there was a new DJ tonight, so I thought I'd check it out.'

'Well, he's the only reason I'm here,' Donna says. She notices a flash of defeat come across his face and quickly tries to correct herself.

'No, no, I meant that he's a friend of mine and I'm just here to support him during his first show at the club.'

'Oh, of course,' he says. 'I'm sorry, I guess I just assumed that you were with someone.'

'I'm not right now,' she says. 'Can I be honest with you?'

'Absolutely,' he says.

'You seem like a really nice guy and everything, but I'm kind of in a state of relationship limbo and I don't want to lead you on or anything,' she says.

'I understand, Donna. I'm kind of in the same boat. I just broke up with someone I had been dating for a while. We just didn't want the same things and I was feeling so much pressure that I just had to get out of it,' he says.

'Really?'

'I'm sure you don't want to hear about that and I mean no offense to you or any other woman out there, but it's so hard to find someone who doesn't just want a one night stand,' he tells her.

He starts to laugh nervously as Donna tries to decide if she heard him correctly.

'Wow, that was a really weird thing to say to someone I just met,' he says with embarrassment.

Donna smiles and puts her hand on his shoulder. 'It's okay, I totally agree with you.'

'Okay, folks, now for a little twist, DJ Dave will now entertain you with a few original songs,' a voice comes through the speakers at the club.

Donna turns her head toward David to see if there was a spot closer to where he was playing.

'Come on,' she says and grabs Chase's hand.

'What's going on?' he asks.

'I didn't know he plays his own music,' Chase says as they get closer to the railing to look down on David.

'Wait until you hear this,' Donna says and smiles.

David begins to play and within seconds has the entire club captivated. The people on the dance floor begin to move to the beat as David continues to play.

'He's incredible,' Chase tells her.

David starts to play his second song. Donna turns to Chase and smiles.

'Well, that's enough for me. I think I'm going to get going,' she says.

'Don't you want to hear him finish the set?' Chase asks her, still watching David play.

'I came, I saw, I supported, and now it's time to go,' she says.

'Donna, it was really great talking with you,' he says.

'You too,' she says.

'I know it may be a little quick for you, but I'd really like to get to know you better. I think we might have a lot in common,' he says.

'Um, sure, that sounds great,' she says, writing her phone number down on a piece of paper from her purse. 'Call me sometime.'

'I definitely will,' he says.

She walks back to the table where the girls have already started to take Steve's shirt off.

'Andrea, I'm leaving now,' Donna says to her.

'Oh, so soon?'

'Yeah, I really need to get some sleep,' she says. 'Are you staying until the end?'

'I might, I haven't decided yet,' she says.

'Well, if you do, tell David I said congratulations and that he rocked this place tonight,' Donna says.

'You got it.'

_Dylan's House_

Brenda walks through the door at half past midnight. She sees Dylan asleep on the couch with the television on.

She puts her things down on the table, moves to the couch, and kneels down in front of him. She softly rubs his arm and whispers his name.

'Hmmm?'

'Dylan, I'm back,' she says softly.

He opens his eyes slowly and looks at her. 'Aren't you supposed to say 'Honey, I'm home' or something?' he asks her.

She smiles at him and kisses the end of his nose.

He sits up and pulls her onto the couch next to him.

'How was the drive tonight?' he asks her.

'Actually, it wasn't too bad. The later I leave San Diego, the better it is,' she says.

'I'm glad you're home safe,' he says.

'Yes, I am home safe, although,' she says, standing up, 'I don't have rehearsal tomorrow and I do feel like I need a little danger,' she says as she slowly takes a few steps backward and begins to unbutton her shirt.

'Oh, really?' he says, watching the show.

She takes her shirt off and tosses it to him. He puts it up to his nose and inhales deeply.

She wiggles out of her pants and shakes her hips in his direction as she moves through the house toward the bedroom.

Dylan starts to growl at her and springs off of the couch after her.

She starts to giggle as she jumps onto the bed. He runs into the room and puts his arms around her waist.

She laughs harder as he begins to tickle her while kissing her neck.

'Dylan!' she squeals.

'You better hold on tight, baby, you called for the danger and here it comes,' he says.

_The Peach Pit – the next day_

Dylan and Brenda sit at one of the tables together eating lunch.

'Oh, now that I could have done without seeing,' Brandon says as he and Kelly walk up to the table.

Brenda finishes taking the French fry out of Dylan's hand with her mouth and then turns her head toward them.

'Hey,' she says with a smile, getting up to hug her brother. 'Welcome back, how was your trip?'

Brandon and Kelly sit with them and start gushing about their week away.

'It was so wonderful!' Kelly says. 'It was peaceful and drama-free.'

'Yeah, we actually got to spend some time with each other without any interruptions,' Brandon says looking at Kelly. 'It was so nice not being here for a while.'

'Well, I'm so glad you had a good time,' Brenda says.

'So, what's going on with you guys?' Kelly asks them.

'Brenda starting rehearsing for a new play,' Dylan says proudly.

'Really?' Brandon asks.

'I was cast in a classic play as the leading role and we just started rehearsing this week,' Brenda tells them.

'That's great, Bren,' Brandon says.

'Yes, it is, but you won't be seeing much of me over the next month or so,' she tells them. 'The play is being performed at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego.'

'San Diego? You mean, you drive to San Diego every day?' Kelly asks.

Brenda just nods her head as Dylan grabs her hand. She turns to look at him and he kisses her temple.

'Wow, Bren, isn't that a little far just to perform in a play?' Brandon asks her.

'Brandon, it's my first professional theatre job. I need to do this right now. It's really not that bad and the production company offered to find a room for me somewhere down there if it gets to be too much,' she says.

'Well, congratulations,' Kelly says and smiles, trying to hide her skepticism.

The door opens with a chime of the bell and the four of them turn their heads when they hear a high-pitched squeal.

Donna runs over to the table and embraces both Kelly and Brandon at the same time.

'Oh my God, I'm so happy to see you! How was it?' Donna asks, pulling up a chair.

Following behind her was Steve with his arm around a girl they didn't know.

'It was great, Donna,' Kelly says.

'Hey guys,' Steve says sitting down.

'Hi Steve,' Kelly says, eyeing up the girl sitting next to him.

'Oh, sorry, this is Casey,' he says.

Donna looks at the girl for a few seconds. She didn't look familiar and she wasn't one of the girls she saw Steve with the night before.

'Hi, I'm Donna,' she says.

'Hi,' Casey says as she slinks behind Steve.

'Wow, the gang is all here,' David says walking over to them.

'David was amazing last night. I wish you were all there to see him,' Steve says.

'What was going on last night?' Kelly asks.

'Oh, I have a regular gig now down at this club that just opened up. I'll be playing every Friday night,' David says with a smile.

'That's great news. Sorry we weren't around to see your debut,' Brandon says.

'That's okay, you can catch next week's show,' David says.

Kelly watches David interact with everyone. She hasn't seen him smile this much and be so happy in a long time. She catches his eye and gives him her best approving look.

He nods slightly in her direction and continues to talk about the club. Steve and Casey get up to leave and Donna can't help but follow them with her eyes all the way to the door.

'Well, that was interesting,' she says when the door closes.

'What?' Brenda asks her.

'I went to the club last night to support David,' she says looking at him for a brief second. 'When I got there Steve had two girls with him and they were all over him the entire time,' she says.

'So, what's so weird about that?' Brandon asks her.

'Neither one of them was the girl he just walked in with,' she says.

David frowns a little and then picks his head up. 'When I was done last night, Steve helped me put away my equipment in the store room. Casey was waiting for him when we were done. She was the only one I saw him with,' David says.

'Looks like Steve was just playing the field last night,' Brandon says.

'Doesn't he play the field every night?' Brenda asks.

They all begin to laugh.

_The Old Globe Theatre_

'Brenda, when you say that next line, I want you to move slowly, behind the chair and come downstage to say the monologue, okay?' John says.

Brenda nods her head and follows his direction.

'Okay, great, that's perfect. Guys, let's run this scene one more time and then call it a night,' he says.

Brenda moves back to her starting position, takes a deep breath, and flips the pages in her script back to the beginning of the scene.

They finish the scene as the director comes up onto the stage.

'Okay, great job, guys. Tomorrow we'll get through the end of Act I and that'll be a wrap for this week of rehearsal,' John says.

Brenda nods her head and is definitely relieved that this week was almost over.

'Brenda, how are you doing?' John asks her as she packs up her things.

'Oh, great, I'm almost off book for the first Act,' she says proudly.

'That's wonderful, but I meant, how are you holding up? You know with the drive and all,' he says.

Brenda smiles and says, 'It's not too bad, actually, it gives me time to think,' she says.

'Well, we're going to be getting into some longer rehearsals, so I just wanted to make sure that you weren't too stressed out,' he says.

'Not yet,' she says jokingly.

'You'll let me know the minute it becomes too much so that we can make arrangements for you, right?' he asks her.

'Right, no worries,' she says.

'Have a good night and be safe driving,' he says.

'Goodnight,' she says.

_The Beach Apartment_

'So, coming to the club tomorrow night to see David?' Kelly asks Donna.

'Um, I don't know,' Donna says. 'Kel, there's something I didn't tell you about last Friday night at the club.'

'What's that?'

'Well, I kind of met someone,' she says.

'Oooh, tell me everything,' Kelly says.

Donna smiles nervously. She had gone out with Chase two nights ago, telling Kelly she had to go and have dinner with her parents. She didn't want to tell her right away, in case they didn't really have a good date, but they had a wonderful time together.

'His name is Chase and he's a senior at CU studying film and photography,' she says.

'Is he cute?'

'Kelly!' Donna scoffs.

'Well?'

'Yes, he's cute and right now we're just getting to know each other and taking it really slow,' she says.

'I am so proud of you Donna. I'm glad you got back out there,' Kelly says.

'Yeah, well, we'll see how it goes,' she says.

'Just give it a chance,' Kelly says.

'I am,' Donna says. 'Oh, what time is it?'

'Um, six-fifteen,' Kelly says.

'I have to go and get ready, he should be here any minute,' Donna says getting up and running to her room.

Kelly smiles as she watches Donna run down the hall.

Ten minutes later, Kelly hears a knock on the door and gets up off of the couch to answer it.

She opens the door to reveal a very handsome man smiling from ear to ear. A look of confusion flashes across his face as he sees Kelly standing in front of him.

'Hi, you must be Chase,' she says. 'I'm Kelly, Donna's roommate.'

'Oh, of course, nice to meet you,' he says extending his hand.

Kelly shakes his hand and invites him into the apartment.

'I'm sure Donna will be out any minute. I'll go check on her,' Kelly says.

Kelly goes down the hall and knocks on Donna's bedroom door.

'Donna, Chase is here,' she says through the door.

'Okay, I'll be right out,' Donna yells.

Kelly smiles and goes back into the living room to entertain him until she comes out.

'So, Donna tells me your studying photography,' Kelly says.

'Yes, it's such a fascinating art form,' he says.

'Are you doing some kind of portfolio for your thesis?'

'Kind of, I'm merging film and photography together into this storytelling kind of presentation. I'm almost done getting all of the photos together, and I'm hoping to start putting it together once the semester starts up again,' he says.

'Well, that's great, good luck,' Kelly says as she hears Donna's bedroom door open.

'So, where are you guys off to tonight?' Kelly asks.

'We're going to dinner and then I'm going to go with Chase to take some pictures,' Donna says with excitement as he embraces her.

'Sounds great, have fun,' Kelly says, watching them walk out the door.

Donna and Chase leave the house and get into his car.

'So, I'm finally going to experience the Peach Pit,' Chase says, pulling away from the apartment.

'You are going to love it, Chase, I promise,' Donna says with a smile. He moves his hand to grab one of hers while he drives.

She laces her fingers with his and smiles the entire drive to the Pit.

They walk in and get a table near the juke box.

'Wow,' Chase says looking around the diner. 'This like a real diner.'

Donna smiles as she watches his facial expression change as he looks at all of the pictures on the walls.

'Are you going to introduce me to your friend, Donna?' Nat says walking over to the table.

'Hi Nat, this is Chase. Chase this is Nat, he owns the diner,' Donna says happily.

'Nice to meet you,' Chase says and shakes Nat's hand. 'These pictures are amazing.'

'Thank you,' Nat says smiling. 'What can I get you guys?'

The doorbell rings and Donna turns her head to see who was coming in. She furrows her brow a little when she sees Casey walk quickly and frantically into the diner.

Donna looks around the diner for Steve, but doesn't see him. Casey moves to the counter and scans the room with a nervous look on her face.

'Nat, has Steve been here?' Donna asks him.

Nat shakes his head and follows Donna's eyes to the girl at the counter.

Donna shrugs and orders dinner. Chase begins to tell her about where they are going after dinner to shoot some photos, when Casey approaches their table.

'I'm sorry to bother you, but have you seen Steve anywhere?' she asks politely.

'No, I'm sorry, I haven't,' Donna says.

'Okay, thanks,' Casey says, dejected. She walks slowly to the door and leaves the diner.

'Who was that?' Chase asks her.

'Some girl my friend Steve took home from the club,' Donna tells him.

'Ah, I see,' he says as Nat comes over with their dinner.

Donna shakes her head a little bit and tries to concentrate on the menu in front of her. She looks back up at the door and sees that Casey has left the diner, but is now pacing in front of the door.


	48. Chapter 48

_**The Time of Our Lives – Chapter 48**_

_Avenues_

David finishes setting up his equipment for the show that night. He looks up when he hears someone walking toward him and finally sees Steve walk into the light.

'Hey buddy, do you need help?' Steve asks David.

'Nope, all done. You've been quite a staple in this club lately, Steve, what's going on?' David asks him.

'Nothing, just having a little fun,' Steve says with a smile.

'Are you trying to break some record or something?'

Steve furrows his brow at David and stares at him with confusion.

'The record for how many nameless, faceless, one night stands a guy can have in a week?' David asks knowingly.

'Ah, come on, David, they're not nameless or faceless,' Steve says.

'Uh huh,' David says. He pauses for a few seconds and looks Steve right in the eye. 'You miss Lily, don't you?'

Steve shrugs him off with a laugh. 'Please, David, I'm not a settling down kind of guy. She was just a nice distraction.'

Steve begins to walk away to try to end the uncomfortable conversation, but David follows him for a few steps.

'Steve, just be careful, okay?'

Steve continues to walk away from David. David stops and sighs.

_Casa Walsh_

Brenda opens the front door to her house and goes into the kitchen to find her mother.

'Hi Mom,' she says cheerfully.

'Brenda, well, I was beginning to wonder if you were still alive,' Cindy says with a smile.

'For the moment,' Brenda says sitting down at the table.

'I haven't heard much from you since you started rehearsing,' Cindy says, pouring her daughter a cup of coffee.

Cindy walks to the table and sits down with Brenda.

'Yeah, it's been a little crazy these past two weeks. I'm sorry I haven't been around lately,' Brenda says, trying to soften her mother's obvious feeling of neglect.

'It's okay, Brenda. I know that you're working really hard and I just want to make sure that you're okay. I was a little worried when you said that you had to drive to San Diego every day,' Cindy tells her.

Brenda sips her coffee and smiles up at her mother.

'How is Dylan handling all of this?' Cindy reluctantly asks her daughter.

Brenda smiles weakly. 'He's, um, okay, I guess. I think he'll be better once school starts up again,' she says.

'Ah, yes, speaking of school,' Cindy says.

'Mom, don't even start. I'm not going back,' Brenda says indignantly.

'I know, I know,' Cindy backs off. 'I just wanted to test the waters and see how you were feeling about not returning with the rest of your friends.'

'You know, I haven't even had time to think about it, not that I would entertain the notion anyway,' she says.

Cindy starts to laugh at her daughter's stubbornness. 'Well, I'm glad you are happy with the choice that you made.'

'I really am, Mom. I'm learning so much by being around professionals all day long. The experience that I'm getting right now doesn't even come close to classroom learning.'

Brenda watches her mother's face fall a little bit, but she recovers quickly.

'Look,' Brenda says, standing up, 'I just came to get a few things that I think would be useful for the show. I'll see you later, okay?'

Cindy nods and watches Brenda leave the kitchen and listens as she climbs the stairs to her room. She stares at the open doorway for a few minutes as she hears Brenda moving around above her. She lets a tear roll halfway down her cheek before quickly wiping it away.

_Dylan's House_

Dylan sits at the kitchen table staring at some papers. He hears the door open and sees Brenda come through with a bag slung over her shoulder. She walks up to him and leans down to kiss him.

'Hey,' she says and puts the bag in the bedroom. 'What are you reading?'

'Ah, I'm just looking at the class offerings for this semester,' he says, pulling her into his lap.

'Anything interest you?' she asks him, kissing his neck as he rubs her back.

'A few things,' Dylan says slowly, closing his eyes as she kisses from his ear down to the crook of his neck.

He tightens his grip around her body as he nuzzles his head into her shoulder.

'Mmmmm,' he moans as her kisses intensify.

Brenda smiles into his neck and pulls back a little. He lifts his head from her shoulder and looks up at her.

'I love when you make that noise,' she whispers seductively, caressing his face with one of her hands.

'Mmmmmmmmmmm,' he moans again, pulling her down for a kiss.

Brenda and Dylan start to slowly remove each other's clothing when the phone starts to ring.

They part, stare at each other for a second, and start to laugh. Brenda gets up and lets Dylan answer the phone.

'Yeah?' Dylan says into the phone, slightly annoyed.

'Hey, it's Brandon.'

'Brandon, what's going on?'

'Just wondering, since Brenda doesn't have rehearsal tonight if you guys were going to make it to the club to hear David play?' Brandon asks.

'Um,' Dylan says as he lifts his head and watches Brenda as she slowly finishes taking her shirt off. She hangs her shirt on one finger, holds it out toward Dylan, and then slowly lets it drop to the floor.

'I don't think so, Brandon. Look I have to go, have fun,' Dylan says quickly and hangs up on Brandon.

He crosses the house quickly to where Brenda was standing waiting patiently for him. He picks her up in one motion and drags her to the bedroom.

_The Beach Apartment_

'Well, I guess that's a no,' Brandon says, staring at the phone for a second before hanging it up.

'What did he say, Brandon?' Kelly asks, coming out of her bedroom with her purse in her hand.

'Let's just say I highly doubt they'll be getting anywhere near the front door tonight," Brandon tells her.

'Ah,' Kelly says, 'I see. Well, are you ready?'

'Yes, I am, let's go get our groove on,' he says as he attempts to shake his hips at her, but fails miserably.

Kelly starts to laugh and puts her arms around him. 'Honey,' she says sweetly.

'Yes?'

'Don't do that again, okay?' she says sweetly and kisses him quickly.

He laughs with her and closes the door behind them.

'Is Donna meeting us there?' Brandon asks.

'I'm not sure. She left about an hour and a half ago to meet up with Chase,' she says.

'So, what do you think of this guy?'

'I've only met him once, but he seems decent enough. Time will tell, I guess,' Kelly shrugs and gets in the car with Brandon.

Kelly and Brandon walk into the club. They weave in and out of the crowd trying to find a spot to sit or stand in view of David.

'Have you ever seen this many people in one place?' Kelly yells to Brandon over the music.

Brandon just shakes his head and grabs her hand so that he doesn't lose her in the crowd.

He walks up two steps to one of the landings and sees the back of Andrea's head.

'Andrea!' he yells.

She turns quickly and sees Brandon and Kelly working their way through the crowd. She smiles and waves them over to the table.

'Hey, Andrea,' Brandon says sitting down with her.

'You made it through, huh?' she asks.

'Were there this many people here last week?' Kelly asks her.

'No way,' Andrea says with a smile. 'Isn't it great? David has had them captivated for the last hour.'

Kelly looks over Brandon's shoulder and sees David standing in front of his keyboard and dancing to the music.

'He looks like he's really into it,' Kelly says.

'Yeah, he's doing really well,' Andrea says as she glances up just in time to see Steve coming in their direction.

'Ooh, you came just in time to see who the flavor of the day is,' Andrea says as Steve approaches the table.

'Good evening, friends, having a good time?' Steve asks them.

Brandon and Kelly nod at him.

'This is Jennifer,' he says motioning to the girl standing next to him. 'Jennifer, this is Andrea, Kelly, and Brandon.'

'Nice to meet you all,' Jennifer says with a smile.

Steve leads her away from them, but turns his head just in time for Kelly to see him wink in their direction.

'Wow, that one actually spoke,' Andrea says with a laugh.

Brandon looks at her with confusion. 'What do you mean, Andrea?'

'The one he had earlier wouldn't say a word,' Andrea tells him.

'Does anyone else think that Steve is out of control?' Kelly asks them.

'I do,' Donna says joining them.

'Hey, Donna, I was wondering if you were going to come out tonight,' Andrea says.

'Well, Chase wanted to hear David play again, so we decided to stop by for a little while,' she says.

'Oh, where is he?' Andrea asks her, looking around.

'He went to get us some water, I'm parched,' Donna says.

Kelly starts to laugh and hides her face with both of her hands.

'Um, Kel, what's so funny?' Brandon whispers into her hair.

'I'll tell you later,' Kelly says under her breath.

'Welcome to Avenues! I hope you are all having a great time so far, I'm DJ Dave and I'll be here all night for your dancing pleasure. If you'd like to hear something, feel free to come on up and whisper it in my ear,' David charms the crowd.

Brandon laughs a little at David's announcement. 'Well, you have to hand it to him, he knows how to bring the crowd in.'

'No kidding, look at that line of girls,' Andrea points out.

They all turn their heads in David's direction and see a line forming next to the platform where he is standing.

'Oh, I love this song,' Chase says, joining them with two glasses of water.

Donna smiles and takes a sip. 'Oh, Brandon, this is Chase,' Donna says a moment later, realizing that he's the only one at the table who hasn't met Chase yet.

'Brandon Walsh,' Brandon says, holding out his hand to Donna's friend.

'Chase Rowan, it's nice to meet you,' Chase says.

'Chase goes to CU too, Brandon. He's studying film and photography,' Donna tells him.

'Are you almost done taking pictures for your thesis?' Kelly asks him.

'Almost, Donna and I are going to two more places tomorrow afternoon and then I think I'll be done,' Chase says with a smile.

David lets the next song start playing before moving over to the side of the platform where a line had been forming.

He drops his head down near the first girl in line and she breathes heavily into his ear.

'Hi, you are so cute, call me,' she says shoving a slip of paper in his hand.

'Oh,' David says, watching her flash a smile and walk away.

The next four girls in line do almost the exact same thing and as the line goes down, he only gets one song request out of it.

David smiles to himself as he puts the next song up and then glances over at his friends. He sees them staring back at him with differing looks on their faces. He shrugs his shoulders at them and goes back to cueing up the next song.

'Well, I think we're going to take off,' Donna says, standing up and grabbing Chase's hand.

He stands up with her, says goodbye to her friends and follows her out the front door.

_Dylan's House_

Brenda lies in Dylan's arms with her eyes closed. He runs his fingers up and down her arm softly, basking in the after glow of their lovemaking.

'Dylan?' she says quietly.

'Hmmm?'

'Are you happy?' she asks him, slowly opening her eyes and positioning her head so that she can look into his face.

Dylan opens his eyes too and locks gazes with her.

'Brenda, there are no words to describe how happy I am right now,' he says firmly. He wanted to make sure there was no room for her to doubt him.

She smiles and leans forward to kiss his lips softly.

'I know that there is a lot going on right now and when school starts up again, I just want to make sure that we're on the same page before the craziness starts,' she says, looking down at his chest and away from his eyes.

'I know you're nervous about us, Bren, and I don't expect that you're going to just let it go that easily, but I promise you, right here, right now, that I will do everything I possibly can to make sure that we come first,' he tells her.

He puts his hand under her chin and lifts her head up.

'Me too. I don't want to repeat anything that's already happened to us. We have to keep moving forward,' she says.

'You're right, so when are you going to tell your parents that you will no longer be living with them?' he asks her.

Brenda takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.

'Well, I was thinking that I would tell them next week, right after school starts up again. That way they can really see that I have the courage of my convictions and that I don't regret my decision not to return,' she says confidently.

Dylan smiles at her and kisses her forehead.

'I guess we'll have to plan a little homecoming celebration for next week, huh?' he says, raising his eyebrows at her.

Brenda starts to giggle and tries to back away from him as he lifts himself up to get into a pouncing position.

_Avenues_

'Well, I think we're going to call it a night. I'd like to try to get out of here without getting trampled at the door,' Brandon says standing up.

He turns his head to see Steve walking toward them.

'Leaving so soon, Brandon?' Steve says, winking at him.

Brandon stares incredulously at Steve as he kisses the neck of the girl he has his arm around.

'That's not the same,' Brandon starts to say to Kelly until he hears Andrea shush him.

'Well, goodnight, Brandon, have a safe trip home,' Andrea says loudly, trying to get him to not say what he was about to say.

Brandon picks up on Andrea's clues and puts his hand out for Kelly. Kelly takes his hand, stands up, and says goodbye to Andrea.

'Uh, goodnight, Steve,' Kelly says staring at the girl the entire time.

Steve nods his head and walks off with his new girl.

Brandon leads Kelly out of the club and starts to walk to where he parked the car.

'Can you believe him?' Kelly says. 'What the hell is going on?'

'Well, you know Steve,' Brandon says, half-heartedly.

'I do know Steve and as much of a woman chaser as he is, I've never seen him shift gears that quickly,' Kelly says, getting in the car.

Brandon nods his head agreeing with her. 'Maybe I'll talk to him tomorrow and see what's really going on,' he says.

'Someone better or he's going to get himself into a lot of trouble,' Kelly says.

As the last song of the night fades out, David turns the microphone on and addresses the crowd that is still in the club.

'Well, another Friday night gone here at Avenues. Please tip your waitresses well and come back next week when we go all new wave on you. Goodnight,' he says, putting the microphone down.

Andrea makes her way to the platform and waves to David.

'David, that was a great show,' she says giving him a hug.

'Thanks, Andrea. I think I'm really getting the hang of being back in front of people again doing what I love,' he says with a smile.

'So, how many numbers did you get?' she asks him, laughing.

'Goodnight, Andrea,' he says and continues to put his equipment away.

Steve walks up with his arm around yet another girl and with one more lurking behind him.

'Another killer night, David,' Steve says. 'Do you need help or are you okay getting this stuff away?'

David looks up to see the look on Steve's face, pleading with him not to say that he needs help.

'Nah, go on, I'm fine,' David says, sighing.

'Great, look I have a favor to ask you,' Steve says, walking up onto the platform to talk to David privately.

'What?' David asks with a little annoyance.

'I'm about to give this fine woman a tour of the house, but her sister doesn't have a ride home. Do you mind?' Steve asks him.

'Are you kidding me, Steve? You want me to drive home the sister of your one night stand? Are you crazy?'

'Come on, David, lower your voice. It's a small favor,' Steve says, giving David his best pleading look.

David shakes his head in disgust and then looks up to see the two girls talking to each other and staring at them. He catches the eye of the sister and softens a little when she gives him a weak smile.

'Alright, Steve, but I will never do anything like this for you again,' David says.

'You are the man, David,' Steve says jumping off of the platform.

Steve talks to the girls, waves to David, and walks out, leaving one girl behind.

She walks slowly toward him and nervously puts out her hand.

'I'm Hannah,' she says in a small voice.

'David,' he says taking her hand.

'I'm sorry about this. I wasn't a big fan of this plan either, but once you put an idea in my sister's head, there's no stopping her,' she says.

'Sounds like Steve, they're perfect for each other,' David says. 'Look, I have to put this stuff away, I'll just be a second, okay?'

Hannah nods her head and waits patiently for David to finish.

David comes back into the main room of the club after locking his equipment in one of the closets.

He says goodnight to the manager and leads Hannah outside.

'So,' he says getting in the car, 'where to you live?'

Hannah directs him through Beverly Hills to a neighborhood near Brenda and Brandon's house.

He pulls up the half-arch driveway of a gorgeous house and stops in front of the door.

'Thank you very much for driving me. I really appreciate you doing this, even though we don't know each other at all,' she says, staring at him.

David nods as he notices that her wavy hair frames her face perfectly and that she looks almost angelic sitting across from him with the moonlight coming through the window of the car.

After a slightly awkward and uncomfortable silence, she says, 'I really enjoyed your music tonight, by the way.'

'Thank you, it's only my second week at the club, so I was still a little nervous,' he tells her.

'Oh,' she says, perking up and putting her hand on top of his, 'you shouldn't be nervous, you were wonderful. You had flawless transitions between songs and I really enjoyed your original pieces too,' she says.

David feels the heat of her hand touching his and can't help but smile at her compliments. He puts his other hand slowly on top of hers and looks into her eyes.

'Well, Hannah, I have certainly enjoyed our short time together and I'd love to talk some more with you, but I really have to get some sleep or I might not make it home,' he says slowly.

Hannah pauses for a second and then smiles brightly at him. 'I'd like to talk more with you too, David,' she says.

'Can you meet me at the Peach Pit for lunch tomorrow?' he asks her, still a little nervous. He hadn't asked someone out in a long time and he felt the butterflies in his stomach start churning.

'Sure,' she says, slowly pulling her hand away from his and opening the car door. She steps out and leans her head back into the car and smiles at him.

'See you tomorrow,' she says, closing the door and almost skipping up to her front door.

David watches her go inside and slowly pulls out of her driveway. He can't seem to wipe the huge smile off of his face for the entire ride back to his father's house.

A few hours later, Steve drops his date off at her house, telling her that she couldn't stay over because the only quality time he gets to spend with his mother was on Saturday morning.

He smiles to himself at the fantastic, but sentimental lie he told her as he drives back to his house and parks the car. He dances his way up the stairs, twirling his keychain in his hand the entire way.

He was so preoccupied with his own brilliance that he didn't notice the car parked directly across the street from his house with the light on.


	49. Chapter 49

_**The Time of Our Lives – Chapter 49**_

_The Peach Pit – a few days later_

'Well, it's our last night before school starts, what are we going to do to ring in the new semester?' Steve asks his friends.

'Nothing, Steve, it's the middle of the week,' Andrea says, finishing her glass of water.

'Come on, Andrea, get some adventure in your life,' Steve says with a smile.

'I have enough adventure in my life. I'm volunteering down at the community center starting tomorrow, that's enough adventure,' she tells him.

'Blech, boring!' Steve says.

'What's boring?' David asks, joining them.

'Andrea and her volunteerism. So, David, last night before school starts, what are you doing?' Steve asks with hope.

'I'm going out to dinner and probably for a walk on the beach afterwards,' David says.

'David, really, you've got to get out more. There is nothing lamer than eating by yourself,' Steve tells him.

'Steve, are you blind? David has started seeing someone. You've met her,' Andrea says with amazement at Steve's short term memory.

Steve stares at the two of them for a few minutes trying to figure out who they could be talking about when Donna, Chase, Kelly, and Brandon come in.

'Oh, you mean that girl I asked you to drive home? What was her name? Haley, Hartley,' Steve says, trying to remember.

'Hannah,' he hears resounding from all six of them.

'God, Steve, you are really out of touch lately,' Kelly says, sitting down. 'I'm very happy for you, David. Hannah seems like a very nice girl.'

'Thank you, Kelly,' he says as he gets up to put some money in the juke box.

'Please tell me one of you guys has a plan for tonight? I mean, we can't just sit idly by and let school start up again without a bang,' Steve pleads with them.

'Haven't you been partying enough?' Donna asks him with concern.

'Nope, never enough, Donna, never enough,' he says. 'Well, if you stiffs are going to just sit around here all night, I'm going to go find some people who aren't afraid of having some fun. Catch you later.'

Steve gets up and walks out of the diner. Donna sees a flash go by the windows of the pit and catches the back of Casey as she runs to follow after Steve.

'Wow, that girl is still hanging around?' she says.

'What girl?' Andrea asks her.

Donna looks at all of her friends with a little embarrassment. 'Oh, sorry, I didn't realize that I said that out loud. Do you guys remember the first girl Steve brought in here to meet us about two weeks ago?' she asks them.

'Vaguely, why?' Kelly asks her.

Chase lifts his head a little bit and a look of realization shows on his face. 'Is that the same girl that was here the night we came to eat?' he asks Donna.

Donna just nods her head at him and looks down at the table.

'I think Steve may have a little fatal attraction on his hands,' Chase tells them.

'She's been stalking this place and who knows where else. She just stands outside the front door pacing back and forth, waiting for Steve,' Donna tells them.

Brandon shares Donna's look of concern and twists his hands together trying to figure out what to do about it.

'Do you think Steve knows?' Kelly asks.

'No, I don't. He barely notices us, do you really think he'd notice someone stalking him?' Donna asks.

The group mulls over the information they just heard and tries to think of ways to break it to Steve.

'Did someone die? You guys are awfully quiet,' Dylan says walking up to the table.

Brandon looks up and sees him. 'Hey, D, haven't seen you venture out in a while.'

'My stomach started growling so I thought I'd grab some food,' Dylan says sitting with them.

'Well, do you guys want to meet back up here later and talk about Steve? I have to go and pick up Hannah now, but I think it's important that we come up with something together,' David says.

Andrea and Donna nod their heads. 'That's a good idea. Let's meet back up here for a late night brain storming,' Andrea says.

'Okay, see you guys later,' David says and leaves the diner.

'What's going on with Steve?' Dylan asks them.

_The Old Globe_

Brenda finishes buttoning the dress she was going to wear for the play and comes out of the dressing room.

She walks onto the stage and stands in the light so the director can see her.

'Oh, Brenda, that's perfect. It fits just perfectly. Can you put your hair up in a bun or something?' John asks her.

Brenda picks her hair up and holds it on top of her head so that he can see what she looks like.

'Yes, yes, yes, that's it!' he says with excitement. John comes up onto the stage and stands a few feet from her.

The rest of the cast comes out in their costumes and joins her. John has them stand together and takes a few steps back to see how they look with each other.

'This is going to be beautiful,' he says with a smile. 'Rita, come take a picture, would you?' he yells to the stage manager.

Rita comes out from backstage with a camera and starts snapping shots of them. Brenda tries to stay in character while Rita is taking photos.

'Okay, great, thank you,' John says. 'Take your positions for the top of the show and let's run through the first Act.'

John jumps off of the stage and goes to sit in the audience so that he can see them.

Brenda runs through the entire first Act without messing up her blocking or forgetting a line.

They come down and sit on the edge of the stage waiting for John to give them notes on their performances.

'Okay, guys, before I give you notes, I just wanted to give you the updated schedule for the next three and a half weeks,' John says as he hands them all a piece of paper with the schedule on it.

After John gives them notes, Brenda goes back to the dressing room to change her clothes. She packs her things and starts walking toward her car. She sees the lights on in the theatre attached to the Old Globe stage and peeks her head inside to see what is going on.

She listens to a few lines from a monologue being performed and smiles to herself. As she's turning to leave she catches the eyes of one of the guys sitting in the audience. She smiles weakly and ducks out of the theatre. She continues walking to her car and gets in for her long drive back to L.A.

_Dylan's House_

Brenda opens the door to Dylan's house a few hours later and drops her bag on the floor. She looks up and sees that Dylan is talking to someone on the phone and smiles up at him.

He smiles back and nods his head. 'Okay, see you there,' Dylan says into the phone. He hangs it up and moves to pull Brenda into his arms.

He kisses her neck and hugs her tightly.

'I'm glad you're home,' he says.

'Mmmm, me too,' she says. 'Who were you talking to?'

'Brandon,' Dylan says. 'We're meeting up at the Peach Pit to talk about Steve. I don't have time to explain it all to you right now, but if you want to come with me, I can tell you all about it in the car on the way over.'

Brenda tries to figure out if she could stay awake to listen to what was going on with Steve. She wrinkles her face a little trying to decide.

'Look, I know you're tired, but if you want to come and help out, we could really use your brain,' he says.

'Wow, is it that serious?' she asks him.

'It might be,' he replies.

'I haven't the faintest idea of what you're talking about, but I'm intrigued and inquiring minds want to know,' she says.

He smiles at her, pulls her closer, and kisses her gently.

'Great, let's go,' he says and leads her to the car.

_The Peach Pit_

Dylan opens the door and walks into the diner, pulling Brenda behind him. He had brought her up to speed with what everyone had told him that afternoon about Steve.

He sees Brandon and goes to the table to sit down.

'Brenda? Is that you?' Brandon says, feeling her face with his hands as if he was blind.

Brenda starts to laugh and swats his hands away. 'Brandon, stop, it hasn't been that long since I've seen you,' she says.

David walks in, followed by Andrea, and walks over to the table to join Brandon, Kelly, Dylan, and Brenda.

'Brenda, how are rehearsals going? Are you still driving back and forth to San Diego?' Kelly asks her.

'Rehearsals are going great. I can't wait for you guys to see this show,' Brenda says, trying to muster some excitement.

Donna and Chase are the last to get to the diner and quickly walk over to sit down with her friends.

'Okay, guys, let the brain storming begin,' Donna says.

'Let me see if I understand what's going on here,' Brenda says. 'Steve has been clubbing pretty much every night and sometimes hooking up with two or three girls a night.'

'Right, and for some reason, one of them is hanging on,' Donna says. 'I'm not sure if it's something to worry about, but I'm really concerned that he doesn't see the possibility of something like this happening to him.'

'Well, there are a lot of psychos out there. Leave it Steve to find one of them,' Dylan says.

'Come on, Dylan, we've all had one night stands. Any one of those people could have been crazy,' Brandon says.

'I've never had a one night stand,' Brenda says.

They all turn and look at her at the same time.

'What?' she asks.

'Okay, Brenda's sexual escapades or lack thereof are not the issue here. Let's get back to Steve,' Kelly says, trying to suppress the overwhelming urge to laugh out loud.

'Well, how do we know if this girl is really stalking him?' Brandon asks.

'Someone has to follow Steve around for a little while and keep a look out for anything weird,' Brenda says.

'Maybe we could take turns or something,' Andrea suggests. 'It will be easier to track him while he's on campus.'

'I don't know, you guys, I feel kind of weird about this. Don't you think we should just talk to him and find out if he has any knowledge of this?' Brandon asks him.

'He's probably not going to be receptive to that, Brandon, but you could always try,' Brenda says.

'I think we should start there and at least bring him into the light on this,' Brandon says. 'Where do you think he is now? He said he wanted to party before school starts up tomorrow.'

'He's probably down at the club right now,' David says.

'Well, guys, do you want to take a road trip and try some intervention?' Brandon says looking around to Dylan, David, and finally settling on Chase.

'I'm up for it, although I don't know Steve that well, but I'm willing to try and help,' Chase says nodding at Brandon.

Andrea, Donna, and Kelly share a smile with each other. Kelly looks over at Brenda to see that she has locked eyes with Dylan.

'I think I'm going to sit this one out, Brandon,' Dylan says softly. 'I don't think a club is a very, um, healthy environment for me.'

They all turn their heads and look at him at the same time. He locks eyes with Brenda again and no one moves until Donna pipes up.

'Dylan, if you're worried about alcohol or anything, you don't have to be. Avenues is a dry club, no bar, no liquor,' she says.

Dylan tears his eyes away from Brenda and smiles weakly at Donna for a second.

'Thanks for that Donna, but I just don't think the environment as a whole is a good place for me to be,' he says, standing up.

'Sorry, B,' he says grabbing Brenda's hand. She stands up with him and follows him to the door.

Brandon catches Dylan's eye as he turns around before following Brenda out and gives him an approving nod.

'Okay, well, one man down, but that's okay. Let's go and see if we can bang some sense into our friend,' Brandon says, getting up.

He leans down and kisses Kelly before heading toward the door.

'Brandon, just be careful, okay? If Steve gets wind that you're there with a purpose, he's likely just lash out and then he won't want us around,' Kelly says.

'Got it,' Brandon says with a smile. 'Let's go guys.'

Kelly, Andrea, and Donna watch the boys walk out of the diner.

'Do you really think this is going to work?' Andrea asks them.

Donna and Kelly both shake their heads.

'Steve is going to take one look at them and bolt,' Kelly says.

_Dylan's House_

Dylan and Brenda walk into the house after returning from the Peach Pit. Dylan hadn't said anything on the ride back and Brenda started to get a little nervous.

'Dylan? Are you alright?' she asks him as they sit on the couch together.

Dylan looks up to meet her gaze and smiles. 'Yeah, Bren, I'm fine. I want to help with Steve, but I don't want to step foot in any kind of club.'

'I understand,' she says, rubbing the back of his hand. 'Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something.'

'What's that?'

'Well, I received the rehearsal schedule for the next three and a half weeks from John tonight,' she says.

Dylan feels a lump in his stomach as soon as she starts to speak.

'For the next two weeks, rehearsals are scheduled at three hours for four nights a week. For the last week and a half before the show opens, rehearsals are scheduled for five hours every day,' she tells him.

'Five hour rehearsals? What could you possibly do in five hours?' Dylan asks.

'Run through the show twice,' she tells him. 'Look, I'm handling the schedule fine the way it is now. It's really not that bad, but a two hour drive, a five hour rehearsal, and then another two hour drive I think might kill me,' she admits.

'Close to a ten hour day, four or five of which will be spent in the car,' Dylan says almost to himself. He takes a few seconds to think about what she is saying and starts to nod his head.

'You're right, Bren, that's too much for anyone,' he agrees.

'I'm going to ask John to find me a place to stay during the last week and a half of the show. I'll be there during the weekdays and come back on the weekend,' she says.

Dylan watches her face as she tells him what she has decided. She looks a little nervous telling him all of that, but still has an air of confidence behind her voice.

'Okay, Bren,' he says.

'Okay?' she asks with confusion.

Dylan smiles at her and grabs her hand. He brings it up to his face and kisses it.

'I just want you to be happy and stress free. If staying in San Diego for a week will make this easier for you, then I am all for it. If staying in San Diego for the next three weeks would make you happier, then I think you should do that,' he says.

Brenda smiles back at him and squeezes his hand. 'I'm not sure what will make me happy at this point,' she says.

'Brenda, whatever decision you make, we will figure out how to deal with it, okay?' he says seriously.

Brenda stares at the floor trying to decide what to do. Her plan was to stay only the last week, but it might be more convenient and less hassling to stay for the next three weeks.

She finally looks back at Dylan after a long pause. 'You're starting school tomorrow, right? If I'm down there for four days a week for the next two weeks and back on the weekends, you probably won't even notice that I'm not here,' she says.

Dylan starts to laugh. 'Of course I'm going to notice that you're not here and besides, I don't have to go to five hour rehearsals. My schedule won't be that bad this semester, and San Diego isn't that far away,' he suggests.

'You'd really drive down to be with me during the week?' Brenda asks him with surprise.

Dylan smiles and leans forward to kiss her. He puts his hand on the back of her head and holds it there while they kiss.

'Yes,' he whispers.

Brenda wraps her arms around him and hugs him tightly.

_Avenues_

Brandon, David, and Chase stand outside the club.

'So, do we have a plan or something?' Chase asks.

'Well, not really, but I'm hoping that we'll be able to catch him without a girl attached to him,' Brandon says as they enter the club.

'He likes to hang out up here,' David says, leading them around the DJ platform. David looks around but doesn't see Steve.

'Well, let's fan out and look for him,' Brandon says.

They nod to each other and the three of them spread out trying to locate Steve.

Brandon searches the back half of the club and then circles back to the main dance floor. He stops and looks around the room and a waving arm catches his eye. He moves over to the other side where David was standing with Chase and trying to flag him down.

'I got him, Brandon,' David says. He leads Chase and Brandon around a bunch of tables to reveal Steve, sitting on a bench seat with two women sitting on either side of him.

Steve was whispering in one of the girl's ears while encouraging the other to continue kissing his neck.

'Damn, he looks a little occupied at the moment,' Chase says.

'Listen, I'm going to try to lure him outside for a second, why don't you guys go out there and wait for us?' Brandon says.

'What are you going to tell him?' David asks.

'I don't know, I'm just going to make something up, but if he doesn't want to come then it'll just be me coming out to meet you,' Brandon says.

David shrugs and leads Chase out of the club. They stand outside of the entrance looking around and waiting for Brandon to come out with Steve.

'Hey,' Chase says slowly. He stares at the ground and then slowly looks up at David.

'What?' David asks.

'Don't make it obvious, but do you see a shadow lurking near that corvette down the street?' Chase says, trying not to stare.

David nonchalantly turns his view to where Steve's car is parked.

'Yup, yup I do,' David says quietly. 'This is getting out of control.'

Brandon takes a deep breath and then walks right over to where Steve is sitting.

'Hey buddy,' Brandon says loudly over the music.

Steve opens his eyes and turns his head to see Brandon in front of him.

'Brandon! I knew you'd change your mind and come party with me,' Steve says with a bright smile. As he gets up from the bench, Brandon hears the girls whine a little.

'Don't worry, ladies, I'm not going anywhere,' Steve says with a wink in their direction.

Steve puts his arm around Brandon's shoulders and smiles.

'Steve, I have to talk to you, do you mind if we step outside for a second? It's kind of loud in here,' Brandon says, hoping that it would be this easy.

'What's going on?'

'Um,' Brandon says, looking around at all of the people near them, 'I'd kind of rather not say anything in front of all of these people.'

Steve looks at Brandon with utter confusion, but after a few seconds, shrugs his shoulders, tells the girls that he would be right back and lets Brandon lead him out of the club.

Brandon walks with Steve out of the club and as the night air hits his face he looks around to see where David and Chase went.

David picks his head up when he sees Brandon and starts walking toward him.

'So, what do you need to tell me, Brandon?' Steve asks, still concerned and a confused.

Brandon lets out a breath and looks Steve right in the eye as David and Chase walk up.

'David? What are you doing here? Are you working tonight?' Steve asks, getting more and more confused by the second.

'No, Steve, not tonight,' David says, waiting for Brandon to break it to him.

'Listen, buddy, have you gotten a weird feeling that someone's following you over the last few weeks?' Brandon asks gently.

'Following me? What the hell are you talking about? What is going on and why is this guy here?' Steve asks, pointing at Chase.

'He's Dylan's stand in for the evening,' Brandon says. 'Look, Steve, we have a really bad feeling that some girl you spent the night with is stalking you.'

Steve stares blankly at Brandon while he speaks.

'You've been screwing with so many women over the last few weeks that you probably don't even remember most of them, but one seems to be hanging on and following you around,' Brandon continues.

'Brandon, that's ridiculous,' Steve says, brushing him off. 'That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. No one is following me, Brandon.'

'I know you think that now, but we're just here to say, watch your back and stop screwing around or it will come back to haunt you,' Brandon says.

'Just get out of here, okay, you don't know what you're talking about,' Steve says with disgust.

'Just make sure you look around and under your car before you get in it. Someone seems to be lurking in the darkness over there,' David says.

'Seriously, this is ridiculous,' Steve says.

'Don't say we didn't warn you, Steve,' David says and starts to walk away.

Brandon pleadingly looks toward Steve, but only catches a glimpse as he huffs back into the club.

'Well, Brandon, you tried,' Chase says.

'Yeah, let's hope some of that got through,' Brandon says.

Chase looks back toward Steve's car and sees the shadow slinking away.

'Well, we just missed our chance to interview the stalker,' he says, as they slowly make their way back to Brandon's car.

_Dylan's House – the next morning_

Brenda walks into the bedroom with a cup of coffee in her hand. She sets it down on the nightstand and sits on the bed, admiring a sleeping Dylan.

Dylan groans a little and opens his eyes slowly to see Brenda's loving face staring back at him.

'Were you watching me sleep?' he asks her.

She smiles and nods. 'I love you,' she says and leans down to kiss him.

He responds quickly to her as soon as her lips touch his and within seconds, she is on the bed with him lying halfway on top of her.

'Whoa, Dylan, down boy,' she says jokingly.

Dylan starts to growl and bark like a dog as he attacks her neck. Brenda starts to laugh and tries to pull him off of her.

'Dylan, come on, you're going to make me late,' she says with a smile.

Dylan stops what he's doing and looks at the clock next to the bed.

'Come on, baby, you've got some time, it's early,' Dylan says as he goes back to kissing her neck.

Brenda turns her head to the clock and sighs. She realizes that she does indeed have a little time before she has to leave for her drive to San Diego for rehearsal.

She wraps her arms around his body and quickly removes the shirt he was wearing.

'Oh yeah,' Dylan whispers into her ear as he helps her out of her shirt.

Brenda laughs a little at him and puts her hands on his cheeks.

'You are so cute,' she says and pulls him down for a kiss.


	50. Chapter 50

_**The Time of Our Lives – Chapter 50**_

Brenda parks her car and starts walking toward the theatre. She sips her coffee and reads her script as she walks.

'Brenda Walsh, right?' a voice asks her.

She lifts her head and immediately recognize the guy she locked eyes with the night before in the theatre as she was leaving.

'Oh, um, yeah, and you are?' she asks.

'Phil, it's nice to finally meet you,' he says holding his hand out for her to shake.

She tentatively shakes his hand and gives him a confused look.

He starts to laugh. 'I'm really good friends with your director and he talks about you and the cast all of the time,' he explains.

'Oh, of course,' she says. 'Listen, I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm going to be late.'

He nods and she smiles as she turns to walk around him.

He watches her walking away and can't help but smile at the beautiful woman in his view.

As she approaches the theatre entrance, she glances back at him. He was standing in the exact same spot that she left him, grinning.

Brenda gets a chill up her spine as she quickly enters the theatre.

_Community Center_

'Andrea, I'm so glad you decided to volunteer for a little while. I'm sure you're going to love it here. I'm Samantha Ross, but you can just call me Sam,' she says.

'It's very nice to meet you, Sam,' Andrea says with a smile.

'Our first order of business is to set up for the children's art class later on this morning. Follow me,' Sam says, walking down the hall.

She enters one of the classrooms and Andrea smiles as she sees all of the artwork on the walls.

'What kinds of children use the community center the most?' Andrea asks her as she helps Sam pull out some art supplies from the drawers.

'Well, we mostly have children from single parent households. We have a few kids whose parents work long hours or are away on business a lot,' Sam explains.

Andrea nods as they set up stations for each kid.

'We also have some children from the orphanages come and spend the day with us a few times a month,' Sam says.

'Oh, that's great. They must really love it here,' Andrea says.

'Ethan and I try as hard as we can to make this an enjoyable place to be. We try to encourage these children to just be happy and positive, even if their lives outside of this building aren't so great,' she says with a smile.

'Sounds like a perfect place to be,' Andrea says.

_Campus_

Dylan parks his car and makes his way to the Campus Café. He grabs a cup of coffee and sits at a table to look over his class schedule.

'Hey D, what's happening?' Brandon asks him as he sits down.

'Nothing much, what happened with Steve last night?' Dylan asks him.

'Ugh,' Brandon says, shaking his head. 'He reacted just like we thought he would. My only hope is that at least some of what I had to say got through his thick head.'

Dylan starts to laugh and then sighs. 'One can only hope,' he says. 'Well, I'm off to class.'

'Anything good this semester?' Brandon asks him.

'We'll see,' Dylan smirks and walks out of the café. He walks into his first class and takes a seat by the window.

As he is settling in and opening up his notebook, he looks up toward the door just as the professor walks in.

'Okay, class, I know it's the first day and you're all a little rambunctious, but we've got a lot to cover this semester, so let's get started,' he says.

He hands out the syllabus and sits on the edge of his desk waiting for everyone to get one.

'So, your final grade is only made up of three things, so pay attention. From now until mid-terms you will be working on a group project. That project will count as one-third of your grade. For the second half of the semester, you will be responsible for a position paper based on the required reading for this class and an original composition. They will count for the last two-thirds of your grade. Any questions so far?'

Dylan takes a deep breath and stares down at the syllabus.

'Okay, for the group project, I have split everyone in the class in random groups of two. You will work with your partner to complete this project. If you do not work with your partner to complete this project, you will fail,' the professor says firmly.

Everyone starts looking around the room with either confusion or fear.

'Each pair will be assigned a novel. You will read the novel separately and then together you will do one of two things. You will write an alternate chapter or ending to the novel, or you will write an in-depth analysis of the novel from two different viewpoints. Each partner will be responsible for all parts of this project and must be able to explain and justify every word written,' he continues.

Dylan almost forgets that he is in a room with other people. The silence was incredible as the entire class was either enraptured or frozen in fear at the professor's words.

The professor's face softens a little as he realizes that most of the students aren't breathing. 'Relax, people, it's not as difficult as it sounds,' he says with a smile.

Dylan sighs and hears a few more people do the same. Papers start to shuffle and signs of life come back in to the room.

'This is a lesson in true collaboration. If you are going to be a writer, an editor, or even a book seller, you need to learn to work creatively with others. Now, for the novels,' the professor says as he moves to the chalkboard and begins to write the list.

'By the end of the day, you will receive notice of who your partner is and what novel you have been assigned. Hopefully some of you have read a few of things and can get a head start,' he says.

_The Old Globe_

'Great job tonight, guys. The show is really coming along nicely,' the John says.

'Um, John, can I talk to you a second?' Brenda asks him, coming down off of the stage.

'Sure,' he says.

'I think it's time to take you up on that offer of an apartment down here. I want to be completely focused on this show and as strangely calming as the drive back to L.A. is, I think I'd like to be closer for a while,' she says with a smile.

'You got it, Brenda. Let me check up on a few things and I'll probably have something for you within a few days,' he says.

'Great, see you tomorrow, then' she says.

_Campus_

Dylan sits on a bench outside of one of the classroom buildings. He had one more class to go before he could leave campus.

'Dylan, right?' he hears a voice say.

He looks up and sees a woman from his first class standing in front of him. He nods slightly to her as she sits next to him.

'I'm Monica from class this morning. I just checked my mailbox and found this,' she says, handing him a piece of paper.

Dylan takes it and reads what is written. He sees their names and the title of the novel they had been assigned.

Dylan starts to feel uncomfortable just staring at the words and almost jumps at the sound of Monica's voice.

'Have you ever read it?' she asks.

Dylan takes a deep breath and finally looks up at her while handing the paper back.

'Yeah, I have read it,' he says, almost reluctantly. He stares at Monica, who was looking back down at the book title.

'I haven't. I've heard of the title before, but I don't really know much about it,' she says looking back up at him.

'Hmmm, well, just keep an open mind when you do read it,' he says, getting up from the bench.

'I have class,' he says walking away.

As he approaches the building, Dylan starts to panic a little bit about having to work with Monica on this project. He tries to put it out of his head as he gets to the door.

She watches him go into the building and sighs. She goes to the book store on campus and searches around for the book. She finally finds it and brings it to the register.

'Nice choice,' the student at the register says as he gives Monica a sultry look.

She sighs out loud and stares down at 'Fanny Hill' as he puts it in the bag.

_The Peach Pit_

Kelly sits at the counter waiting for Brandon to come in. She tries not to but can't help but stare at David and Hannah sitting at one of the tables in the corner. They were giggling and feeding each other. Kelly sighs, remembering the how the beginning of a relationship felt. She looks at the two young kids having fun and enjoying each other and starts to feel a little old.

'Hey,' she hears Brandon say as he kisses the side of her head.

She looks at him and gives him a weak smile. 'Hey,' she says.

'Uh oh, what's wrong?' he asks, sitting down next to her.

'It's nothing,' she says. 'How was your first day back?'

'Great, I love my classes this semester, how about you?'

'Good,' Kelly says, taking one more glance at David and Hannah. 'Brandon, let's get out of here, okay?'

'Don't you want to get something to eat?' he asks with confusion.

'Let's eat back at the house, okay?' she says, quickly gathering her things and making her way toward the door.

Brandon shrugs behind her and follows her out.

They arrive at the beach apartment and Kelly opens the door. Brandon follows her in and smiles at the sound of Donna laughing.

Kelly turns her head at the sound and starts to feel a little déjà vu at the sight of Donna and Chase sitting on the couch cooing at each other.

Kelly lets out a small sigh and goes straight to her bedroom.

'Hey,' Brandon says to them as he hears Kelly's bedroom door open.

'Hey, Brandon,' Donna says with a smile.

He follows Kelly into her bedroom and closes the door.

'Kel, what's going on?' he says sitting on her bed watching her pace back and forth.

'I don't know, Brandon,' she says continuing to pace.

'Come on, Kel, sit down and talk to me,' Brandon says offering her his hand.

Kelly stops and looks at his outstretched hand. She takes a deep breath and moves to sit next to him.

Brandon takes her hand and sits her down next to him. He rubs her hand with his fingers and waits for her to start talking.

'I really don't know what it is, Brandon. I was at the Peach Pit waiting for you and I was watching David and Hannah interact with each other and then Donna and Chase,' Kelly says as she lets her voice trail off.

Brandon thinks about it for a few seconds and then nods his head.

'I guess I just started wondering when that died for us and when we became so,' she pauses.

'Grown up?' Brandon finishes for her.

'Yeah,' she says, looking at him.

'Well, I can't promise that we'll feel the way that they do on the outside right now, but I think we've got something that is much better than that awkward 'getting to know you' phase,' he says.

'I guess, but that doesn't make me feel any better,' she says.

'I know, maybe we just need to hang out with other people who have been together for longer than a month?' Brandon suggests.

'Like who?' Kelly asks without thinking.

'I bet I know two other people that may feel the same way on the inside,' Brandon says and picks up the phone.

_Dylan's House_

Brenda closes her notebook and lays it on the table in the living room. She yawns as the phone begins to ring.

Dylan gets up and answers it.

'Hey, Brandon, what's going on?'

'Hey, do you and Brenda have a free night this week?' Brandon asks.

'Um, I don't know,' Dylan says as he turns he head toward Brenda, 'Bren, do we have a free night this week?

'I'm back early on Thursday from rehearsal,' Brenda answers.

Dylan nods and goes back to the phone. 'Brenda says Thursday is good,' Dylan tells Brandon. 'What's going on?'

'Do you mind if we come over for dinner or something? We haven't just hung out with you guys in a while,' Brandon asks.

'I guess,' Dylan says, a little confused.

'Great, thanks, man. I'll talk to you later,' Brandon says.

'Okay,' Dylan says, still confused.

Dylan walks into the living room to join Brenda on the couch.

'What was that about?' she asks him.

'Brandon and Kelly want to hang out with just us for some reason,' he says.

'Really?' Brenda asks. 'Something must be wrong.'

Dylan shrugs and puts his arm around her. She leans her body into his chest and he rubs her arm with his hand.

'So, tell me about your classes,' Brenda says.

'They all seem alright so far. One of them is going to be a little difficult, since we only have three projects that make up our entire grade,' he says.

'Yikes, that doesn't sound like fun. I'm so glad I don't have to deal with that anymore,' Brenda smiles to herself.

'Yeah, lucky you,' he says.

_The Beach Apartment_

'Okay, Kel, that's done. We're going to have dinner with Brenda and Dylan on Thursday,' Brandon says, hanging up the phone.

Kelly smiles at him and says, 'Thanks, Brandon.'

She leans in to kiss him and he wraps his arms around her. She instantly melts into him and puts her hand on the back of his head. As Brandon lays her down on the bed, she lets go of the tension and anxiety she was just feeling and focuses her attention on him.

_Casa Walsh_

'Jim, don't you think we need to talk about this?' Cindy says, taking a sip from her cup.

Jim grabs two pieces of pie from the counter and brings them to the table. He sits down and looks at her.

'What is there to talk about? Brenda obviously has made up her mind and she's not going to change it. When was the last time you actually saw her in this house?' he asks her.

Cindy thinks about the last time she saw her daughter. Brenda had been back to the house to grab some of her clothes and a few other things, but she must have done it while they weren't home.

'I saw her about a week or so ago, but I think she's been here since then,' Cindy says to him.

'Honey, I know you're worried about her. I am too, but let's look at the big picture. Neither one of our children have spent consecutive nights here in this house for the last few months,' Jim says.

Cindy was so worried about Brenda that she hadn't noticed that Brandon wasn't really around much either.

'They're growing up and trying to be independent. You remember what that was like, don't you?' Jim asks her.

Cindy nods slowly and takes another sip from her cup.

'Our job now is to make sure they are safe, make sure they have or are making enough money to sustain themselves, and be here for them for whatever they might need,' Jim says.

Cindy lets a tear roll down her cheek as she listens to her husband talk.

'What if I'm not ready for that?' she asks him.

Jim gets up and kneels down in front of his wife. 'We just going to have to do the best we can,' he says softly.

_The Community Center – a few days later_

Andrea finishes setting up the classroom for the next art class. She stands at the front of the room looking around to see if she missed anything.

'Great job, Andrea,' Sam says, coming through the door, followed by Ethan.

Andrea smiles at them. 'Thank you, I'm so glad that I get to participate today,' she says.

'Me too, I think you're going to love being around the kids. They are so smart and have amazing personalities, considering all that they have been through,' Ethan tells her.

'Well, I purposefully made sure I had at least two mornings free so that I could spend some more time here,' Andrea tells them.

'Oh, right, school started for you this week, right? How is it going?' Sam asks her.

'Great so far,' Andrea says as she watches Ethan put his arms around Sam and kiss her on the neck.

Sam smiles and kisses him back. 'Well, let's go get the kids. They should be here any minute,' she says.

They walk through the center to the front door and wait for the bus to arrive.

'So, if you don't mind me asking,' Andrea says, 'how long have you two been together?'

'Oh,' Sam says, looking at Ethan, 'forever.'

Ethan starts to laugh and takes her hand. 'I think it's been about, um, twelve years,' he says.

'Twelve years?' Andrea asks, completely shocked.

'Yeah, we started dating in middle school and have been together ever since,' Sam says.

'Wow, that's incredible,' Andrea says as a bus of children pulls up to the front of the building.

Sam and Ethan start waving as the children are led off of the bus. Andrea joins them and begins to greet each smiling child.

Ethan has them form a line and takes the first child's hand. They all link hands, with Sam in the middle of the line and Andrea at the end, and march into the center to the classroom.

They set each child up at a workstation and help them write their names on the tags in front of them.

Andrea can't help smiling as the children try to contain their excitement. She finds it hard to believe that all of these children were either given up by their parents or orphaned after their parent's deaths.

'Okay kids, now that we know your names, I'm Sam,' she says, putting a nametag on her shirt.

'Good morning, Sam,' the children say in unison.

'I'm Ethan,' he says doing the same.

'Good morning, Ethan.'

Andrea walks quickly and takes the nametag Sam is holding out for her.

'I'm Andrea,' she says.

'Good morning, Andrea.'

Andrea smiles as she listens to the children say her name.

'Okay, let's get started,' Sam says, flipping over a page on one of the easels.

'Now, I want you all of draw your favorite happy moment. It can be anything that made you happy. You can use chalk, crayons, markers, pencils, anything you want,' Sam says.

The children start giggling and talking to each other. Some of them grab whatever drawing implement is closest to them and start scribbling.

One girl sits quietly and doesn't move to start drawing anything. Andrea walks over to her and kneels down.

'Hi Jessica,' Andrea says, reading her name.

'Hi,' she says softly.

'Have you decided what you are going to draw today?' Andrea asks her.

'Nothing, I don't have a happy moment,' she says.

'Aw, I'm sure there has been at least one good thing that has happened to you,' Andrea says.

Jessica shrugs and stares down at the paper.

'Do you like coming here and spending time at the center?' Andrea asks her.

Jessica looks up at her and slowly nods her head.

'Does it make you happy to get on the bus and hang out here with us for a little while?'

Jessica nods again and slowly moves to pick up a crayon. She starts drawing a bus and smiles.

Andrea walks around the room with Sam and Ethan helping the children work on their projects. She starts to feel a knot in her stomach as she watches them diligently drawing, smiling, and laughing with each other.

She puts her hand to her stomach and gags a little.

'Andrea, are you alright?' Sam asks her.

'Um,' Andrea pauses, 'I'm just going to use the bathroom.' She leaves the room quickly and goes to the bathroom to throw some water on her face.

She stares at herself in the mirror and tries not to cry. 'Pull it together, Andrea!' she says to her reflection.

She hears the door open and starts to wipe her face with a towel.

'Andrea? You got pale all of a sudden, are you sure you're feeling okay?' Sam asks her.

Andrea sighs and looks at her. 'Just looking at those kids so happy really got to me, I'm sorry,' she says.

'Andrea, what happened?' Sam asks her.

'I don't know you that well, and I'm a little uncomfortable,' Andrea says, taking a step back.

'It's okay, you don't have to tell me anything,' Sam says with a smile. 'I just wanted to make sure you were alright.'

Sam leaves Andrea in the bathroom by herself. Andrea splashes some more water on her face and then rejoins the class.


	51. Chapter 51

**The Time of Our Lives – Chapter 51**

_The Campus Café_

Dylan sits at one of the tables waiting for Monica to show up. They had scheduled some time to get together and talk about their project for class.

Dylan leans back in the chair and sips his coffee as Monica enters the building.

'Hi Dylan,' Monica says, joining him at the table, and trying not to look him in the eye.

'Hi,' he answers. 'Are you alright?' he asks, noticing her face was a rosy shade of pink.

'Um, not really,' she says, giving him a weak smile. She catches his eye briefly and looks away as quickly as she can. 'To be honest, I am a little nervous.'

'You're nervous? Why?' he asks, having a pretty good idea already why she might be uncomfortable.

'Well, I had never read this book before and after finishing it last night,' Monica pauses and looks down at the table.

Dylan smiles and leans forward to save her from more embarrassment. 'It might be uncomfortable for a little while, but once we get down to the writing style and the themes, it'll probably get better,' he says.

'Yeah, I just never realized how provocative this book is, I mean, if this book was written today it would definitely be banned,' she says.

'It was banned when it was first written. The only reason it survived was because of a few underground copies,' Dylan says.

'Wow, I didn't know that, although I probably should have guessed after reading it that the definition of risqué hasn't really changed that much,' she says.

Dylan sees Monica's cheeks lighten a little. He pulls out his notebook and his copy of the book and looks at her.

'Well, let's get to work,' he says.

Kelly and Brandon turn away from the counter and notice Dylan at the same time.

'Who is that sitting with Dylan?' Kelly asks, slowly following Brandon across the room.

'I don't know, looks like they are working on something though,' Brandon says.

'Yeah, something like that,' she says. She looks at the girl and recognizes the look of awe on her face as she stares at Dylan.

'Kel, don't jump to conclusions,' Brandon warns.

'Don't worry, I won't, I'll just ask about it tonight at dinner,' she says brightly with a smile.

'Ugh,' Brandon sighs. 'You're not going to start a fight, are you?' Brandon turns and walks quickly after her.

'Okay, Monica,' Dylan says, 'so I think we agree on the book as a whole, so opposition papers would probably not be wise. We can either write another chapter or an alternate ending, what do you think?'

'I don't really know if changing the ending would be such a good idea. It kind of wraps up nicely and I think if we attempted to do that it wouldn't turn out good,' she says.

'I agree, so let's find a place in the story that we could insert another chapter,' he says, grabbing his book.

'Right,' she says opening her book. 'Are we going to have to write the chapter in this old English format?'

'I don't think we can do it any other way,' Dylan says. 'It won't be that hard, we can just use some of the language and phrasing from the rest of the book.'

Monica nods and leans a little closer to see what page Dylan had stopped on.

_Dylan's House_

Brenda pulls her car up to the house and takes the groceries she bought on the way back into the kitchen.

She walks back out to the living room and hits the answering machine button. She stops walking when she hears her mother's voice through the machine.

'Brenda, it's your mother, I know you've been really busy with rehearsals and everything, but it's been a while since we've seen you and I thought maybe you would drop by or something.'

Brenda listens to the slight sadness in her mother's voice and realizes that it has been a little while since she had been home. She knew that now that school has started that she would have to tell her parents that she was moving out completely and was not planning on honoring her rental agreement with them.

Brenda sighs and walks back to the kitchen to put the groceries away. As she folds up the last bag, she hears the door open.

'Bren?' she hears Dylan's voice.

Brenda smiles at the sound of searching in his voice and then answers, 'I'm in the kitchen!'

Dylan walks slowly into the kitchen and sees Brenda at the sink washing the few dishes that were left from the night before.

He smiles, walks up behind her, puts his arms around her waist, and kisses her neck.

'It's so nice to have you home early,' he whispers in her ear.

Brenda smiles and leans back as he tightens his grip around her body.

'Dylan, don't get too excited, I have to start cooking. We're having guests tonight, remember?' she reminds him.

Dylan groans and puts his head down on her shoulder. Brenda starts to laugh at him while drying her hands with a towel.

'Come on, sourpuss, they're going to be here soon,' she says, nudging his head.

Dylan reluctantly lets go of her as she moves around the kitchen pulling out a big pot from the cabinet.

He goes into the living room to start cleaning up a little and sees the light on the answering machine on. He hits the button and listens to Brenda's mother's voice.

Brenda pulls out a recipe she found for spaghetti sauce and starts to gather ingredients.

Dylan pokes his head into the kitchen and watches her for a few seconds.

'Bren? Did you hear the message from your mother?' he asks her.

'Yeah,' she says, preoccupied with pulling things out of the refrigerator.

'Brenda,' Dylan says firmly, when he realizes that she might be trying to hide inside the refrigerator.

She stops at the tone of his voice and slowly looks up at him from around the refrigerator door.

'What? I listened to the message like 10 minutes ago, what am I supposed to do about it right now?' she asks him, annoyed.

'You're going to tell them, right?' he asks her.

'Of course I'm going to tell them, Dylan,' she says, balancing an onion, a pepper, and a few cloves of garlic in one hand, while she grabs the tomatoes with the other.

Dylan backs out of the kitchen, deciding that now was probably not a good time to talk about this. He goes back to straightening up the house.

_The Peach Pit_

Steve sits at the counter thinking, while he sips from the glass in front of him.

'Are you sure you don't want a steak or something to put on that?' Nat asks him.

Steve lifts his head revealing a very black and blue left eye. 'No thanks, Nat, I'm alright.'

'Uh huh,' Nat says walking slowly to the back room.

Andrea walks into the diner and spots Steve right away.

'Hey, Steve, I haven't seen you around much lately,' she says and sits down next to him.

'Andrea, now is not a good time, okay?' he says, trying to keep his head down.

'Steve, what's going on?' she asks with concern.

'It's nothing, don't worry about it,' he says.

'Why won't you look at me?' she asks, dipping her head to try to catch his eye.

He tries to protest and keep his face hidden, but Andrea's persistence gets the better of him.

'Oh my God, Steve, what happened? Did you break any bones?' she asks when she finally gets a look at his shiner.

'No, I just got into a little fight, it's not a big deal,' he tries to assure her.

'That must have been some fight for you to have gotten punched in the eye,' she says, trying to prompt him to tell her the story.

'Andrea, come on, just let it go, okay?' he whines at her.

'That's not going to happen, Steve, so the sooner you realize that, the easier this will be,' she says.

'I just don't want everyone knowing my business okay? I've already gotten a talking to from Brandon, I don't need any more grief,' he says.

'I promise that if you tell me what happened, I won't give you any grief and I won't tell anyone that I know the truth,' Andrea says, raising her hand.

Steve stares at her for a few seconds before starting to laugh. The image of Andrea sitting as straight as she possibly could on a stool and giving him the Boy Scouts sign was suddenly really funny.

Andrea laughs along with him and sighs, knowing that he was probably comfortable enough now to tell her what happened.

Nat comes out from the back room and smiles when he sees Andrea.

'Andrea, my love, how are you?' he asks.

'I'm wonderful, Nat, thank you,' she says.

'So kids, are we having dinner tonight or are we just going to sit here at the counter and sulk?' he asks, staring right at Steve.

Andrea grabs Steve's hand and pulls him off of the stool. 'We're definitely eating, Nat,' she says stopping at one of the tables and sitting him down.

Steve gives her a weak smile and tells Nat to bring him a menu.

_The Beach House_

'Kel, are you almost ready?' Brandon asks impatiently, as he sits on the couch waiting for Kelly to come out of the bedroom.

'Almost,' he hears her say from behind the door.

Brandon leans his head back on the couch cushion and closes his eyes.

Kelly finally comes out of the bedroom ten minutes later and smiles at Brandon who is fast asleep on the couch.

She giggles to herself and walks slowly over to him. She leans down, trying not to wake him and places a soft kiss on his lips. He slowly responds as he wakes up. She pulls away when he finally has his eyes open and takes a step back.

'Wow,' he says, looking her up and down. 'You look great.'

Kelly smiles and says, 'Thank you. I am ready for a nice night out,' she says. 'Let's go.'

Brandon eases himself off of the couch and takes her hand. He leads her to the car and drives over to Dylan's house.

_The Peach Pit_

'Okay, let me see if I understand,' Andrea says, trying to remember what Steve just told her.

Steve nods and picks up a French fry to put in his mouth.

'You were out at the club and met this girl. You danced, you schmoozed, you kissed, and she asked to go home with you,' Andrea says.

Steve nods again and continues to pick at his food as she talks.

'As you were walking out to your car with this girl all over you, you hear a scream and then some guy comes out of the shadows and punches you in the face,' she says.

'The girl freaks out and he starts yelling at her. He grabs her arm and starts leading her away from you, yelling for you to stay away from his wife,' Andrea finishes.

'That's pretty much it,' he says.

'Okay, so you messed with the wrong woman, but what I don't understand is who screamed the first time? It wasn't the guy, right?' Andrea asks him.

'I have no idea. It was definitely a woman's scream and it wasn't the one next to me,' Steve explains.

Andrea thinks about what Steve has told her and what she already knew. She figures that the girl who was stalking him must have seen the guy coming and not been able to control herself.

'Well, that sounds like a horrible night for you,' she says, deciding that if she brought up the stalker business he would just shut down and not talk to her.

'It wasn't that bad until I woke up this morning,' he says and then takes a pause. 'Andrea, you're not going to tell anyone what really happened, right?'

'Of course not, Steve, but what are you going to tell them?'

'I hadn't figured that part out yet,' he says with a sigh.

'Well, I'm pretty creative, let me help,' she says.

_Dylan's House_

Brenda stirs the sauce as Dylan puts on some music. He walks into the kitchen and smiles at her.

'So, why do you think Kelly and Brandon want to hang out with us all of a sudden?' Dylan asks her.

'I don't know,' she says. 'There is obviously something bothering one of them.'

'Are you going to tell Brandon about the message from your mom?'

Brenda wrinkles her face at him and shakes it slowly. 'If I run out of things to talk about, maybe,' she says.

Dylan laughs and puts his arms around her. 'The sauce smells great,' he tells her, placing little kisses on her neck.

'Mmmm, thank you,' she says, closing her eyes.

Brenda drops the pot holder she was holding onto the floor and puts her arms around his neck. He snakes an arm around her waist and puts the other on the back of her head.

They both groan loudly when they hear the knock on the door.

'Damn,' Dylan says, as he slowly lets her g, 'to be continued.'

Brenda sighs and moves past him to answer the door.

'Hey,' she says as she lets Brandon and Kelly inside.

'Hey, Bren,' Brandon says, giving her a hug.

They all sit down in the living room, where Brenda has put out cheese and crackers.

'Brenda, this looks great,' Kelly says, taking a bite of a cracker.

Brenda smiles and sits down next to Brandon.

'So, Bren, how's the show going?' Brandon asks her.

'It's going really well,' she says with a smile. 'I'm really excited about this show. It's going to be great.'

'How is the drive treating you?' Kelly asks her.

'Um, it's pretty bad, but I've kind of gotten used to it. I have at least four hours a day to relax and think,' she says.

'It's about to get a little better, though,' Dylan chimes in. Brenda turns her head quickly toward him.

'What do you mean?' Brandon asks.

'The director is going to secure an apartment for Brenda so that she doesn't have to drive back and forth as opening night gets closer,' Dylan tells them.

'Really? You're going to stay in San Diego?' Kelly asks Brenda. Her mind wanders back to the scene she saw earlier in the café with Dylan and that girl.

'Just for a few weeks and only during the week, I'll be back on the weekends until about a week before the show opens,' she says.

Kelly sneaks a look at Dylan to see if he was showing any outward reaction, but he stays perfectly calm.

'Tell me about school,' Brenda says to Brandon. 'How are you classes so far?'

'Great, I love everything I'm taking this semester,' Brandon says with a bright smile.

'You are such a nerd,' Kelly says with a laugh.

'Do you miss it at all, Bren?' Brandon asks her.

Brenda looks at him and then at Dylan. She slowly shakes her head. 'No, I don't. I kind of miss being with you guys and seeing everyone every day, but I don't miss school. I am getting the best training I can get right now. Acting classes can only do so much for your career. I really think that professional experience will land me a job more than a degree,' she explains.

'It's so nice to hear you so confident with your decision,' Brandon says to her. 'I'm really proud of you, Bren.'

Brenda smiles at her brother. 'Thanks, Brandon,' she says, getting up from the couch. 'I'm going to check on dinner.'

They all watch her walk away and when she's gone, Kelly locks her stare at Dylan.

'So, Dylan, who was that girl you were with at the café earlier today?' Kelly asks him.

Dylan leans back into the couch and casually shrugs. 'Oh, her name is Monica, she's in my English class. We're working on a project,' Dylan tells her.

'What kind of project?' Brandon asks with curiosity.

'The professor assigned us partners and a classic novel to either re-write the ending, write an additional chapter or do opposition papers. It's an interesting exercise, but it's worth a third of our grade, so I can't afford to slack off on it,' Dylan says.

'That's kind of cool, D. What book did you get?' Brandon asks.

Dylan smirks and drops his head a little as Brenda comes back into the living room.

'Fanny Hill,' Dylan says, reluctantly.

'Whoa,' Brandon says.

'What about Fanny Hill?' Brenda asks, sitting down.

Kelly stares at Brandon with confusion and then looks back and forth between him and Dylan.

'It's the book I was assigned to do a project on for English class,' Dylan tells Brenda.

'I don't want to sound, um, ignorant or anything, but can someone tell me what this book is about and why it's a big deal?' Kelly says softly.

Brenda smiles at her friend. 'It's a classic novel written back in the seventeen hundreds from the point of view of a teenage prostitute. It's very explicit and goes into a lot of detail about her encounters,' she explains.

'It was banned when it was first published but has managed to survive,' Brandon adds.

'Oh,' Kelly says, pausing for a second. She looks back at Dylan and feels embarrassed for him. _'So, not only did he not tell Brenda about the project and the girl, he kept the book a secret too.'_

'Okay, guys, dinner is ready,' Brenda says, leading everyone to the dining table. She goes into the kitchen while they sit down and gets the serving dishes.

She places a bowl of spaghetti and a bowl of meatballs down onto the table. She goes back into the kitchen and grabs the sauce, a bowl of salad, and a loaf of garlic bread that she made.

'Okay, let's eat,' she says with a smile.

'Bren, this looks great,' Dylan says.

'I can't believe you cooked all of this? Are you sure she didn't order out and just switch the containers?' Brandon asks Dylan.

They all start to laugh.

'I swear, I did not see a delivery guy anywhere near the house tonight,' Dylan says.

Kelly starts to eat and look around the table. She smiles to herself thinking of how grown up they seem to be tonight. She forgets for a few minutes about Dylan and the other woman. This is exactly what she wanted.

'Kel, are you okay?' Brandon asks her.

She meets his gaze and sees confusion.

'Yeah, I'm great,' she says.

'You were just kind of staring off into space,' Brandon says.

She looks at them all one more time before smiling again. 'Thank you guys for having us over. I really needed this,' she says.

'What's going on, Kel?' Brenda asks her.

'I was just feeling a little displaced. I was spending a lot of time around Donna and her new boyfriend. They are so cute together and they are still in that beginning of a relationship phase,' she explains.

Brenda sneaks a peek at Dylan while Kelly is talking and stifles a laugh. He was looking at Kelly and nodding his head, but Brenda could tell that he wasn't really listening to what she was saying. She quickly turns her attention back to Kelly.

'As I was kind of dealing with that, I started seeing David and his new woman doing the same exact thing,' Kelly says.

'Were you kind of uncomfortable around them?' Brenda asks.

'No, I wouldn't describe it as uncomfortable. I guess, it just made me feel really old and I hate the idea of getting older,' she says.

'Well, Kelly, no one likes that idea,' Brenda says with a smile.

'Maybe it's the transition, you know? Going from high school to college wasn't that big of a leap, but graduating from college,' Kelly pauses and then gets a horrified look on her face. 'I'm going to be in my twenties!'

All three of them at the table try not to laugh, but can't help it when they look at Kelly's face.

After the laughing dies down, Brenda reaches for Kelly's hand with a reassuring look.

'Brenda, how did you do it? How did you decide that you weren't going to go back to school anymore?' Kelly asks her softly.

'For the first time in my life,' Brenda begins, 'I knew exactly what I wanted, and I just had a really strong feeling that this wasn't something that was going to fade out in a few months. We all know that I've had strong feelings about a lot of things in the past, but this felt completely different.'

Kelly nods her head and gives Brenda a weak smile. Brandon winks at his sister, as Dylan tries to wipe a brief look of hurt off of his face.

'I guess that's my problem. I don't know what I want,' she says.

'It'll come, Kel, I promise, and when it does, you will know,' Brenda says.

The table is silent for several minutes as they all think and finish eating. Dylan's mind begins to wander and he starts to worry about why Brenda didn't feel that strongly about him.

'Wow, that was kind of a bummer, wasn't it?' Kelly says. 'Sorry, guys, I really am having a great time. This dinner was delicious, Brenda.'

'Thanks, Kel,' Brenda says, getting up from the table and bringing a few of the serving dishes into the kitchen.

Kelly helps her, leaving the boys in the dining room.

'Bren?' she says quietly.

'Yeah?'

'I know it might not sound like a big deal, but seeing those guys laughing and giggling with each other really got to me,' Kelly explains.

'I understand, Kel,' Brenda says. 'Let's remember for a second that David is a few years younger than we are, even though he graduated early and Donna,' she pauses, 'well, I don't think I've seen Donna take anything really that seriously. You and I approach things differently and it's really hard to judge yourself and your life based on them or even me, for that matter.'

'I know,' Kelly says. 'I guess I'm just a little worried.'

Brenda gives her a hug and rubs her back for reassurance. 'There's nothing to worry about, Kel. You need to have fun now while it lasts because real life is just around the corner.'

Kelly nods and smiles at her and then begins to laugh. 'You just sounded like you mother right there!' she says.

Brenda laughs with her and watches as Kelly turns to join the boys in the dining room. She feels a pang in her chest for a few seconds, but shakes it off quickly when she hears the sound of Brandon and Dylan laughing together.

'What are you boys giggling about out here?' Kelly asks with her hands on her hips.

'Oh, nothing,' Brandon says, 'nothing at all.'

_The Peach Pit_

Andrea and Steve had been talking about what they could tell everyone once they see the Steve's black eye. The conversation started off as a real brainstorming session, but the later it got, the more silly they had become.

'Okay, I got it,' Andrea says with excitement. 'You were walking down the street, minding your own business, when a clown on a tricycle rode by juggling bowling pins. The tricycle hits a rock and as he's falling, one of the bowling pins goes flying through the air and hits you in the eye!'

Steve grabs his stomach as he laughs. 'Oh, that's the one, Andrea,' he says, trying to catch his breath.

After calming down, Andrea looks at Steve and sighs. He had the courage to tell her something that he didn't want anyone to know and she thinks that maybe he could help her too.

'Um, Steve?' she says, softly.

He turns to look and her and smiles. 'Yeah?'

'You had the courage to tell me the truth about what happened to you and there has been something that has really been bothering me that I haven't been able really talk about,' she says and then pauses.

Steve wrinkles his forehead and stares at her for a few seconds.

'I'd like to tell you, if you think you can just keep it between the two of us,' she continues.

He turns his body to face her and puts his hand on top of hers. 'I'm here for you, Andrea.'

She smiles quickly and then lowers her head a little.

'Well, do you remember the night we had the party at Kelly's house before school started?' she asks him.

Steve thinks back and starts grinning. 'Yes, yes, I do,' he says, thinking about Lily.

'Well, I did something that was more like you than like me,' she tells him.

Steve looks at her with confusion and waits for her to continue.

'We were all pretty drunk and when I woke up the next morning, I was lying on the couch wrapped in Sean's arms,' she says slowly.

Steve's eyes open as wide as they will go and he just stares at her. 'You did it with him?'

'I wasn't sure until I went to the bathroom and pulled an empty condom wrapper out of my pocket. I didn't remember anything. Obviously one of us open a condom, but that didn't exactly mean that it was used,' she says softly.

'Oh, Andrea, that must have been terrifying for you,' he says, putting his arm around her shoulders.

'It was, Steve. I was bursting at the seams and I felt so alone that I had to mention it to somebody, just to keep myself from going crazy. I felt a little better after that and after the tests came back to prove that I wasn't pregnant,' she says.

'Who did you tell?'

'Brenda,' she says. 'I thought I had gotten over it, I really did, but I'm volunteering at the community center a few days a week now and I'm surrounded by children. For some reason, I feel really guilty,' she says.

'Guilty? What do you have to feel guilty about? It's not like you were pregnant or anything,' Steve asks her.

'I know,' she says, trying to hold back the tears. 'I just,' she starts to say, but the tears fall from her eyes and she starts to sob.

Steve pulls her closer to him and lets her cry. 'It's going to be alright, Andrea. It's going to be alright,' he says to her.

From across the diner, Casey watches Steve and Andrea from behind a newspaper. She stares at them as her fingers begin to crush the paper in her hands.


	52. Chapter 52

**Chapter 52 – The Time of Our Lives**

_Dylan's House_

Dylan lies on the couch reading over the first paragraph of the new chapter of 'Fanny Hill' that he had written as he waited for Brenda to come back from rehearsal.

He wrinkles his forehead at the paper and sits up to cross out the parts he didn't like as the door opens.

Brenda drops her bag on the floor just inside the door and slowly walks to the couch and flops down next to him.

'Hey babe,' he says, not even looking at her. He starts to cross out a few more lines and Brenda watches him with a smile on her face.

He looked so determined and focused on his paper that she almost couldn't take her eyes off of him. As tired as she was after a long rehearsal and drive back to Beverly Hills, she feels a second wind coming on by just looking at him.

Dylan stares down at his writing and realizes that out of everything he had written only one and half sentences were really usable. He puts his hand up to his chin and sighs with frustration. He barely even noticed that Brenda had moved closer to him and was softly placing little kisses from his ear down to his collar bone.

When he finally realizes what she's doing, he closes his eyes and lets her touches ease his frustration. He opens his mouth to say something, but only hears her shush him quickly.

She slowly eases his body back against the couch. She removes the paper and pen from his hand and runs one hand up the side of his leg, across his stomach, and up to his chest.

She kisses from one collar bone to the other and back up the other side of his neck as she lifts herself up slowly to straddle his body. She slowly caresses his face and runs her hands through his hair, cupping the back of his neck. She places slow, deliberate kisses on his forehead and works her way down his face, skipping over his lips, and back up the other side.

With his eyes still closed, he moans at her when his lips are left out of her seduction. Brenda smiles at his disappointment and shifts her weight to bring them closer together. She lifts his body slightly off of the back of the couch to slowly remove the shirt he is wearing.

Dylan struggles to keep his eyes closed as she begins kissing his bare chest. He puts his hands on the small of her back for a few seconds before he feels her playfully slap them away.

'Ah, ah, ah,' she warns. She holds his hands down at his sides and sees a smile creep across his lips.

As Brenda continues to seduce him, Dylan tries as hard as he can to fight the urge to open his eyes, grab her, and throw her down onto the couch. He feels her hands move to his legs and her lips playfully nipping at his stomach and shivers a little.

He hears her try to stifle a laugh and decides that he can't take this torture any longer. He slowly opens his eyes and immediately locks on to hers.

Without saying a word, he lifts his arms and wraps them around her body. He holds onto her tightly and shifts his body so that he can stand up with her in his arms. He hears her yelp with surprise as he stands up quickly. She wraps her arms around his neck and holds on as he speed walks into the bedroom.

_The Beach_

David smiles as he watches Hannah's hair blowing in the night air. They had just enjoyed a nice dinner and were taking a slow stroll down the beach.

'I love how the moonlight reflects on the moving water,' Hannah says softly, stopping to look.

David stands behind her and wraps his arms around her waist. He leans his head down so that they are cheek to cheek and feels her relax her body into his chest.

'Thank you for the wonderful evening, David,' she says. 'I'm having such a good time.'

'Me too,' he says and kisses her softly on the neck.

She leans her head back and turns toward him. He kisses her lips and feels her hand move up to the back of his head.

She holds his head in place as she responds to his lips. David closes his arms around the middle of her body and as the kiss becomes more and more intense, he feels her turn around and places both of her hands around his neck.

_The Beach Apartment_

'Oh, this movie is so good,' Brandon says as he looks down at a sleeping Kelly. She had her head on his chest and a blanket pulled up over her body and was sleeping soundly.

Brandon smiles and kisses the top of her head. 'I guess political documentaries are really your style, huh?' he asks quietly.

Just as he is about to shift his body and wake her up, he hears the door open and Donna say goodnight to Chase.

'Hey, Brandon,' Donna says as she walks into the room.

'How was your date with Chase?' he asks her.

Donna smiles brightly at him and giggles a little bit. 'Oh, it was wonderful, as usual,' she says.

'It's nice to finally see you happy, Donna,' he says.

'It's nice to finally be happy, Brandon,' she says. 'Goodnight.'

Brandon watches Donna skip down the hallway to her bedroom and laughs to himself.

'Kel, wake up,' he says softly.

'Mmmmmm,' he hears her mumble.

'Come on, baby, wake up. It's time to go to bed,' he says, rubbing her arm.

She slowly opens her eyes and lifts her head to look at him.

'Is it over?' she asks.

'Yes, and I can see how much you thoroughly enjoyed it by your snoring,' he says with a smile.

'Shut up, Brandon, I don't snore,' Kelly says quickly, hitting playfully in the chest.

He laughs at her and shifts his body to stand up. He holds a hand out to help her up. She smiles and takes it and follows him to the bedroom.

_Dylan's House_

Dylan lies in bed lightly rubbing Brenda's arm after making love.

'Bren, can I ask you something?'

'Yeah,' she says.

'Is there something you want to tell me?' he asks. He noticed that while they were making love, although she was definitely into it, there seemed to be something else on her mind.

Brenda sighs and turns her body to face him. 'Do I seem distracted?' she asked him.

'Not really, but I can just tell that there's something on your mind,' he says.

Brenda can't help but smile at him at how well he knows her.

'Well, there are actually a few things on my mind,' she says. 'The first being what I'm going to say to my parents about moving in here instead living at home.'

'I know you've been nervous about that since your mother called, but I'm sure after all of this time that you've spend here instead of there, it won't really be too much of a shock for them,' he reassures her.

'I guess, I know that deep down, but I still have to have an awkward conversation with them and I'm just not really looking forward to it,' she confesses.

Dylan hugs her tighter to his body and kisses the side of her head.

'What else is bothering you?' he asks.

'Well,' Brenda starts and lets out a deep breath, 'as I was thinking how much of a pain in the ass it's going to be to get the rest of my stuff out of my parent's house. As uncomfortable as that thought is, it's even more uncomfortable to think of the fact that I'll just have to pack it all up again for San Diego.'

Dylan closes his eyes and holds onto her, trying to think of the right thing to say to reassure her that it will all be alright.

'Bren, the difference between those two is that fact that you'd be bringing your things here for good and only to San Diego for a few weeks,' he says.

Brenda looks up at him and stares into his eyes. As much as she wanted what he said to make her feel better, it doesn't.

Dylan sees by the look on her face that he wasn't particularly helping the situation.

'When are you going to go and talk to your parents?' he asks her.

'Tomorrow,' she says. 'The director let me have the morning off from rehearsal so that I could get my things together for the apartment.'

'Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?' he asks hopefully.

Brenda shakes her head and nestles her head into his shoulder and tightens her grip around him.

_The Community Center_

Andrea walks into the community center bright and early on Monday morning and sees Sam and Ethan talking in the hallway. They stop and turn when they see her.

'Good morning, Andrea,' Ethan says with a smile.

'Good morning,' she says. 'I just wanted to apologize to you guys before the kids get here for the other day. I'm sorry for breaking down like that.'

'Andrea, you don't have to apologize. Are you alright?' Sam asks with concern.

'Yes, I'm alright. I just had a little scare and being around the kids kind of made me feel guilty about it. I'm not sure why, but it just hit me all at once,' she tells them.

'As long as you're okay, that's all that matters. I was a little worried about you,' Sam says.

'I was kind of worried about myself. I guess I just thought everything was okay, when it really wasn't,' she tells them.

'If there is anything we can do to help, please let us know,' Ethan says.

Andrea smiles and nods her head. 'Thanks,' she says.

_Casa Walsh_

Brenda pulls her car up the driveway to her parent's house. She turns the car off and stares at the house for a few minutes before gathering the strength to get out and go inside.

'Mom?' she calls out as she walks through the front door.

'In the kitchen, sweetheart,' she hears. Brenda walks into the kitchen and sees her mother sitting at the table reading the newspaper.

'I got your phone message from the other day. I'm sorry that I haven't been around lately,' Brenda says, sitting down at the table.

Cindy looks up from the paper and studies her daughter's face. She can see that Brenda was fighting with something in her head.

'What's the matter, honey? You look sad or something,' Cindy says.

Brenda closes her eyes for a few seconds. 'Mom, there are two things that I need to tell you. I kind of wish Dad was here too, but I don't have a lot of time and I can't wait for him to come back from work,' Brenda explains.

Cindy waits patiently for her daughter to speak, but feels her insides start to knot up.

'My rehearsal schedule has become more intense as opening night gets closer and I just can't drive back and forth anymore. The director has found me a place to stay for the next few weeks so that I can really focus on the show and not have to worry about anything else,' Brenda finally says.

'I'll be staying in San Diego during the weekdays and only coming back on the weekends. The last week of rehearsals before the show opens, I'll be there the whole time,' she explains.

'Brenda, do you trust these people? I'm not too thrilled with the fact that total strangers are putting you up somewhere,' Cindy says with concern.

'They're good people, Mom. I've spent the last month of my life with them and I trust them,' she says.

Cindy shifts in her seat uncomfortably.

'I know you're not entirely comfortable with it,' Brenda says, 'and to tell you the truth, I don't think Dylan is either, but I made a commitment to this show and I'm going to do everything that I need to do to be prepared for it.'

'Well, I'd try to talk you out of it, Brenda, but I know that it wouldn't do any good,' Cindy says.

'There's something else, too,' Brenda says. The butterflies in her stomach begin to flutter and she has to closer her mouth and swallows hard to try to calm them down.

Cindy sighs out loud and waits for another blow from Brenda.

'I've decided that after the show is over,' Brenda says and pauses for a second, 'that I'll be, um, moving out.'

'It was incredibly generous of you and Dad to offer me my room to rent until I got on my feet, but I barely spend any time here as it is and it's time for me to move on,' Brenda says quickly.

She almost afraid of her mother's reaction to what she just said and leans back in her chair when she stops talking.

Cindy stares at Brenda, trying to figure out if she was having a nightmare or if what she heard actually just came out of her daughter's mouth.

Cindy opens her mouth to say something, but no sounds actually come out as her cheeks flush with fear and frustration.

_Campus Café_

Dylan walks into the café to find Monica sitting at one of the tables.

'So, how did your first pass at writing the chapter go?' he asks her and sits down.

'Ugh, not well. Not only can I not write in this format, but,' Monica stops and looks at him. She feels her embarrassment fill her face and has to look away from Dylan's eyes.

'What? What is it?' he asks.

'Look, I don't know you that well, and we've been paired up with this incredibly risqué novel and I'm just still a little uncomfortable, that's all,' she admits. 'Writing about these kinds of situations, you know, involving things like foreplay and sex isn't something that is normally done in teams.'

Dylan nods his head and gives her a weak smile. 'I know that this is difficult, but I promise you that we will get past this. We have to get past this or we're going to tank this assignment and end of failing this class,' he says.

Monica just nods in his direction, but doesn't look up.

'How can I make this easier for you?' he asks her.

She thinks about it for a few minutes and then finally turns her head to meet his gaze. 'Well, maybe if we get to know each other a little better it wouldn't be that awkward,' she suggests.

Dylan raises his eyebrow and cocks his head to the side. He was normally really good at noticing when women were flirting with him, but he seemed to be off his game and couldn't quite figure Monica out.

'Well, we've got one week to get a rough draft of this chapter in to the professor, so the quicker we do this, the quicker we can get to work,' he says. He decides that he needs to find out quickly whether or not Monica is going to throw a monkey wrench in this project.

He gets up from the table and hold out his hand to help her to her feet. 'Let's go for a ride and get to know each other,' he says, turning on the charm.

She smiles up at him, grabs her books, and takes his hand.

As Dylan and Monica start to leave the café, Brandon comes down the steps and sees them. He sees Dylan put his arm around Monica's shoulder and lead her out of the building.

'What the hell?' he says out loud as he reaches the bottom of the stairs.

'Who are you talking to?' Steve says, coming from around the corner.

Brandon turns and immediately notices the black eye and gasps.

'Steve, what the hell happened to you? Are you alright?' he asks him.

'Yeah, I'm fine, it's nothing,' Steve brushes him off.

'It's nothing?' Brandon asks him. 'Did you get into a fight?'

'Not really, I was just horsing around with the guys from the house. Don't worry about it,' Steve says and starts to walk away.

'That's a hell of a bruise for just horsing around, Steve,' Brandon says following him.

'I said, it's nothing,' Steve warns. He walks quickly away from his friend to stop the interrogation.

Steve walks to a table and sits down. He actually really wanted to reconnect with Brandon. After getting ambushed at the club by Brandon, David, and Chase, Steve had tried to distance himself from everyone a little, but he found himself thinking about them a lot recently.

'What's on your mind, Steve?' Brandon says after slowly walking over to the table.

'Ah, nothing, I was just thinking about how we never hang out anymore,' he says.

'Yeah, well, with school starting back up, I know I haven't had a lot of time. Are you still going to club every night?' Brandon asks.

'Not every night,' Steve tells him. 'Look, Brandon, I know that for some reason my friends don't approve of my behavior, but I see nothing wrong with it. I'm being careful with them and that's all you should be worrying about.'

'I know you are, Steve, but it's not just me that has a weird feeling that someone has been following you,' Brandon says. 'Just give it some thought, would you?'

Steve meets Brandon's stare, but says nothing.

'Look, I have to go, give me a call sometime,' Brandon says and leaves the building.

As he's walking down the steps he sees Kelly coming toward him.

'Brandon, are you alright? You look lost or something,' Kelly says.

Brandon turns to her with wide eyes and continues shaking his head. 'I have no idea what is going on.'

Kelly takes his hand and asks, 'What happened?'

Brandon looks at her and decides that for the sake of everyone involved that he was not going to tell her about Dylan and Monica. She tended to overreact with information like that so he only tells her about Steve's black eye.

'Horsing around with the guys, huh?' she says. 'He's definitely lying about that one. Steve wouldn't intentionally engage in activities that might damage his chances with the ladies.'

'Well, something's going on with him. Do you think it has anything to do with the girl that stalking him? He still isn't taking that seriously,' Brandon says.

'I have no idea,' Kelly says, 'but whatever it is, it isn't good.'

_Casa Walsh_

'So, you're moving in with Dylan again? Is that what you're trying to tell me?' Cindy says.

'Mom, please don't be upset. It has nothing to do with you and Dad. This isn't a decision that Dylan and I have come to lightly. It's different this time,' Brenda says.

'Oh, I see, how different could it possibly be this time? What happens when you need a place to go when you two are not getting along? Brenda, I was really hoping that some of this maturity that you've gained over the last few months would translate into your relationship with Dylan. I was hoping that this time you wouldn't be so quick to make decisions like this,' Cindy says with disappointment in her voice.

Brenda tries as hard as she can not to stand up and tell her mother off. She was very proud of the fact that they had waited even this long to execute their plan to actually move in together.

'Brenda, I don't know what to say about this. You're going to have to come back and explain this to your father and see what he has to say. I just can't,' Cindy pauses and starts to shake her head.

'I just can't even look at you right now,' she finishes and leaves the kitchen quickly.

_The Beach_

Dylan and Monica sit in his car looking out onto the water after leaving campus. She started asking him a lot of questions and he was getting more and more uncomfortable trying to answer them.

'So, a surfer, you're into classic novels and movies, and obviously cars,' she says.

'That's pretty much it,' he says. 'What about you, then?'

'Well, I kind of keep to myself most of the time. I decided to come to a fairly large school to try to get myself to be more sociable, but I'm not quite sure if it's working,' she says.

'I think that's why I'm really not entirely comfortable with this situation. I love to write and I love it because it's something I can do without other people. The assignment itself causes me anxiety because I have to work with someone else, but that anxiety quadrupled when I read the book and found out that I have to pretty much write a sex scene with a complete stranger,' she explains.

Dylan looks at her while she is talking and starts to feel sorry for her. Maybe she wasn't trying to flirt with him, she was just really insecure. The anxiety she was talking about definitely showed on her face and in her body language.

'Well, I can understand that it's a little difficult to open up to someone you just met, but we've got to find a way to make this work,' he says.

'I've got an idea,' he says. He reaches over her and opens the glove compartment. He pulls out a small pad and a pen and hands it to her.

'What is this for?' she asks him.

'Let's write a story right now, in regular language, that includes some of the themes in the book. If we can come together and do that, then we accomplish two things; one, we break through the anxiety and get it out of the way, and two, maybe we can take what we've written and just transform it into the writing style format of the book,' he explains.

Monica nods her head as she starts to understand what he is saying.

'If it's good enough, then we're done,' he says.

Monica takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. She takes the cap off of the pen, opens the pad and looks up at him.

'I'm willing to give it a shot,' she says with a confidence she did not have before.


End file.
